Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Characters

Main Characters

Byleth Eisner

The child of the most powerful knight in Fódlan and a late nun of the Church of Seiros, they've lived their whole life traveling with their father's mercenary group. When in their early 20's, they help rescue the three House LEaders of the Officer's Academy, and in the mean time they're found to have a very uncommon Crest. They're hired as an instructor in the Academy by the Archbishop of the Church, Lady Rhea, and the plot starts kicking in afterwards. . .

• Action Girl: Female Byleth, of the Lady of War type.
• Adaptational Villainy: Well, more like Adaptational Antagonist, but they're set up as this in Three Hopes. The player can subvert it by recruiting them, though.
• Badass Teacher: An instructor in the Academy, and quite the leader and fighter.
• Badass Bisexual: Can have some love interests of either gender. (Female Byleth has more same-sex options than Male Byleth, though).
• Bare Your Midriff: Female Byleth's outfit exposes her belly button.
• Bi the Way: Byleth can marry anyone of the opposite gender, plus some people of his/her matching one.
• Boobs of Steel: As seen from her 3D model and especially from her loungewear shirt, Female Byleth is bustier than every single female student in the Monastery bar none - including the incredibly curvaceous Dorothea and Hilda. She's also every bit as strong as male Byleth, able to lift the massive Sword of the Creator over her shoulder one-handed.
• Character Customization: More limited than before: the player will only be able to choose whether Byleth's a guy or a girl, plus their name.
• Emotionless Person: While not completely unfeeling, Byleth has shown next to no open emotions ever since they were a child, even though their father can easily read their expressions and decode them. Becoming an instructor stats unlocking their missing feelings and making them stronger...
• Heroic BSOD: After Jeralt's death, Byleth apparently locked themself up in their room for a while due to grief.
• Hidden Buxom: Female Byleth has bigger boobs than Dorothea and Hilda, even after the Time Skip, where they've grown bigger and she's stayed the same. Still, the brooch on her necklace is big enough to downplay her Boobs of Steel; seeing her in her loungewear shirt or in concept art where the necklace is missing shows just how well-stacked the young lady is.
• Living Emotional Crutch/Morality Chain: Is this for all but one of the route protagonists, to the point where all three will meet tragic ends without Byleth there to keep their Fatal Flaws in check.
• Missing Mom: According to some talks with Jeralt, Sitri went the Death by Childbirth way. It's more complicated than it seems, however: Sitri Eisner once was a test subject for Crest experiments, and when baby!Byleth seemingly was a stillborn, she asked Rhea to take the crest from her body and place it in the baby's to save him/her, even when it'd kill her.
• Pretty Boy: Male Byleth, oh yeah.
• Strong Family Resemblance: The DLC finally shows pictures of their mother, Sitri. Either of them looks a LOT like the late lady, though of course a Female Byleth resembles her much more.
• Teacher-Student Romance: Subverted, s/he will be able to romance their students... post-Time Skip, when they are NOT his/her pupils any longer. Plus Byleth him/herself is as much 21-22, so the age gap between them and their students isn't as big as it could be.
• The Last of These Is Not Like the Others: Byleth is an experienced protagonist who lived life as a mercenary unlike the vast majority of the Fire Emblem Lords who all start out as royalty (except for Ike). Physically, Male Byleth is also very large and physically imposing, whereas most male Lords have been fairly average in terms of their frame (again, except for Ike). Female Byleth is also shown to canonically be both extremely strong, and incredibly curvaceous and busty. All other female Lords are either fairly slender like Lucina and Micaiah, or moderately endowed like Lyn, but generally don't show extreme physical strength like Byleth does.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: As seen above, their hair is dark blue. After a certain point in the first part, it has become light green. Since Jeralt is a blond, they seemingly inherited it from their mom, which is confirmed in Cindered Shadows..

Sothis

A mysterious young lady who only Byleth can see and speak to. Sarcastic, a bit snappy but good at giving advice, she gives them a mysterious power that lets them rewind time a little. It also seems that she's amnesiac, and finding out who she really is will be vital to the story.

• Antiquated Linguistics: Seems to talk like an old woman.
• Adaptational Villainy: Again, like Byleth she's less of a villain and more of an antagonist, but she's much more bloodthirsty in Three Hopes. This is because she senses the presence of Arval within Shez, and this time she's implied to remember the genocide of her children and her own murder at the hands of the Agarthans.
• Bi the Way: Even when she is, well, a vision and a voice in Byleth's head, she can romance him/her.
• Big Good: Sort-of, as she appears via rescuing Byleth and then helps him/her out with her Time Master powers. As the Goddess, she fit in here perfectly until her murder.
• Cute Monster Girl: The archetypical "cute girl with pointy ears and who seems to be a dragon" type of character that ladies like Tiki and Myrrh codified before her.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: She's afflicted with this, unable to clearly remember anything but her own name.
• Little Miss Snarker: This young-looking lady can deal the snark really, really well.
• Mysterious Waif: Only Byleth can see her, she seems to have lost her memories, and she's quite the enigma. It turns out she's a the ghost of the mysterious Goddess that the Church of Seiros worships and honors. Why is she amnesiac and unable to show herself to others aside of Byleth? It's because she (and her children aka the Namatea) died a long time ago at the hands of Nemesis, which caused her daughter Seiros to go completely crazy with pain and start the War that led to the actual history and current state of Fódlan. Byleth him/herself is her Reincarnation, though Sothis believes they're not the same person and refuses to take his/her body for herself to use him/her as their Soul Jar and new host body.
• Time Master: She can rewind time with her powers, not unlike in Echoes' with Mila's Turnwheel.
• Token Mini-Moe: She looks like a very young girl, unique between a cast of mostly teenagers.

The Black Eagles

One of the titular Three Houses, this one gathers students from the Adrestian Empire. It has almost exclusively students of noble origins, and they're led by the Princess of Adrestia.

The Black Eagles are the main House in the Crimson Flower route. After the BIG reveal that Edelgard is the mysterious enemy known as the Flame Emperor (which makes Dimitri lose it in despair) and the Time Skip, it's shown that they students there have become members of the Black Eagle Strike Force directed by Edelgard, now the Emperor of Adrestia, and have begun to invade the continent, seeking to overthrow the Church of Seiros' hold on Fódlan and free it from the influence of the Crests.

Edelgard von Hresvelg

The leader of the Black Eagles and Crown Princess of the Adrestian Empire. She's said to be cool-minded and calculating, and she blames the crests for the weak peace in the continent. She has a minor crest of Seiros.

• Adaptational Heroism: In Three Hopes, she confronts Those Who Slither in the Dark during the school year and jettisons them from the empire, breaking any ties she had with them. She still declares war on the Church of Seiros, but is much more open with her allies this time.
• An Axe to Grind: Her Weapon of Choice.
• Babies Ever After: But only if she marries Ferdinand.
• Badass Princess: The princess of Adrestia is no slouch on the battlefield.
• Bastard Bastard <- -> Anti-Heroic Bastard: Her father is Emperor Ionius IX. Her mother Patricia was his mistress.
• Bi the Way: After the Time Skip, she can marry Byleth... no matter his/her gender. Additionally, she and the also bisexual Dorothea discuss the idea of maybe marrying one another in their B support, and several of her shared endings with other women are very... shippy.
• Boobs of Steel: She fights with an axe, and the Time Skip shows that she actually has a rather large chest.
• Broken Bird: Due to her Dark and Troubled Past, Edelgard has a lot of issues that make her slow to trust and open up to others.
• Chickification: In-universe, this is forced on her by Thales and Duke Aegir in Azure Gleam. While she can still fight, it's the only thing she can capably do as she's being mind controlled to make sure she's not able to make any decisions as Emperor. This allows Thales to use Duke Aegir as a second puppet to sow chaos and violence throughout Adrestia. Nothing about this is portrayed as a good thing.
• Childhood Friends: She and Dimitri, since she lived in Faerghus for a while when they were kids. It falls apart completely when she's revealed to be the Flame Emperor
  • Also, with Hubert and to a lesser extent Ferdinand. In either case, it can go into Childhood Friend Romance.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Edelgard was taken away from Adrestia and into Faerghus by her uncle, Lord Volkhard von Arundel, when she was a little girl. Said uncle and others, led by Ferdinand's father the Duke of Aegir, led a rebellion (known as the Insurrection of the Seven) against Edelgard's father, Emperor Ionius X; while they did not kill him, they did strip him of lots of his power, and the Duke became the Man Behind the Man. She and her mother Patricia stayed in Faerghus, and Patricia even became its Queen Consort via marrying King Lambert... but in practice they were deliberately kept apart from one another (once they were in the same court dance and they didn't know it!), and Patricia ultimately disappeared in the Tragedy of Duscur few after Edelgard was sent back to the Empire..  AND for worse... outta eleven Royal Children from Adrestia, she's the ninth... and the only one who didn't either die or go mad over the painful and dangerous experiments to give all of them Crests. Edelgard, needless to say, is NOT happy about all of this.
• Distaff Counterpart: She's essentially a female version of Walhart - she even has his signature bright red armor.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride. Edelgard has good intentions about dismantling the flawed Crest system and understandable reasons for it, but she truly believes either only she knows how to do so or she's the one most qualified for it. This especially shows in Verdant Wind, where she and Claude have similar beliefs but cannot work together due to her distrust of a person from outside the system and reluctance to relinquish control. In turn, Claude cannot work with her because he feels her methods are too extreme.
• Final Boss: At the very least, she fulfills this role by willingly transforming into a monster at the end of the Blue Lions route.
• Hair Decorations: Blue-purple ribbons at first, then a golden horned diadem.
• Implied Love Interest: In her route. Even more, she's strongly implied to fall for either Byleth even in other routes.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Unlike Dimitri, Edelgard becomes more regal and elegant after the Time Skip, what with her pulling up her hair in Odangos and wearing a red Battle Ballgown.
• Kid With The Leash: She thinks she is one to Those Who Slither In The Dark, but she's not in as control as she thinks she is and they're manipulating her hatred of the Crest system and Church of Seiros.
• Lady in Red: Averted: red is her signature color, but she shows no personality traits associated with the trope.
• Lady of War: And how.
• The Leader: Of the Black Eagles, though in a subversion she still has Byleth as her leader.
• The Ojou: The Ice Queen kind.
• The Stoic: According to her description she's pretty cool-headed, dignified and calculating. She turns out to be more emotional than one would think. however.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Edelgard's father Emperor Ionius is not a Gonk, but looks very frail and sickly. She, on the other hand, is gorgeous.
• The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask: In her route she becomes a ruthless, ambitious leader willing to do anything for her goals, but she's aware that the path she walks on will be full of blood and hardships and isn't happy about it.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: This young woman has been horribly traumatized and hardened due to her Dark and Troubled Past, and as a consequence she has decided to do everything in her power destroy the influence of the Crests and the Church of Seiros. Heck, if she has to invade and overthrow other Fodlan countries to make sure this will take place? She will.
• What The Hell, Hero?: Even her own classmates (besides Hubert) didn't know about Edelgard being the Flame Emperor or plotting to overthrow Rhea and they're shocked and hurt when she announces her intention to do the latter, calling her out on lying and keeping secrets from her friends.
• White-Haired Pretty Girl: A beautiful young woman with silvery hair. She actually was a brunette, but the Crest experiments made her hair go white.
• Trying Not to Cry: After personally executing Dimitri almost at the end of Crimson Flower.
• Unrequited Tragic Maiden: If the Crimson Flower/Black Eagles/her route isn't chosen, she can be easily seen as one to the Byleths. Especially in Silver Snow/Church of Seiros/Rhea's path and/or Verdant Green/Golden Deer/Claude's, since she tells Byleth to kill her personally and, as s/he lowers her/his sword to strike her down, she says that her biggest wish was to walk forward by his/her side.
• Why Did It Have To Be Rats: She's afraid of rats, due to her traumatic childhood being imprisoned.

Bernadetta von Varley

A young girl from the Black Eagles, who wields the minor Crest of Indech. She's the only daughter of Count Varley.

• Abusive Parent: Her dad, the current Count, is one HELL of an overbearing parent to Bernadetta. She states that, among other things, he'd tie her up to a chair for long times to to shape her into a completely submissive child that he'd be able to marry off to someone else. (Though the specific line was removed in a later patch). It's also implied that he beat her.
• Adrenaline Makeover: Goes through a big one after the Time Skip, judging by her more revealing clothes, her use of earrings and her more mature hairstyle. She's still shy and awkward, though, albeit somewhat less than before.
• The Archer: Her speciality, regarding weapons. She can be raised to be a more than decent Horse Archer.
• Arranged Marriage: Almost went through one with Ferdinand. He objected before they even met, but they can actually Marry for Love in their Supports
• Childhood Friend Romance: Potentially, with Yuri.
• Cute Bookworm: She likes things like reading, drawing, embroidery and music.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Her older self's hair is NOT messy at all, and she also adds some cute hairpins.
• Friendless Background: Bernadetta's stuck-up father did not let her have friends, especially if said potential buddies were commoners. Despite her fears and shyness, she desperately wants to befriends others.
• Girly Girl: Lots of her tastes and hobbies are very feminine: sewing, music, plush dolls, cooking (and she's really good at it!), etc.
• Green Thumb: She likes plants and one of her favourite presents is a Pitcher Plant.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With near all the guys she can marry, including Male Byleth. Whether romanced or not, she seems to barely reach the guy's chest!
• Ill Girl: Normally subverted (she tries to claim she's one to not leave her room), but can be played straight (if she falls in battle before the Time Skip, she's said to have fallen gravely ill in the mean time, which forces her to be a recluse in the Varley estate)
• Irony: For such a timid girl, she tends to attract intimidating men - Hubert, Felix, Yuri and Jertiza.
• Modesty Shorts: Wears these under her academy uniform skirt.
• Morality Pet: She's this to multiple characters because of her timid nature, as she's one of the very few women Sylvain doesn't hit on, Dorothea is very kind to her despite her dislike of nobles, Hubert shows his Team Dad ID a bit more eagerly than usual in their supports, and Yuri was originally hired to assassinate Bernadetta but he couldn't bring himself to hurt her and ended up blowing his cover rather than do so.
• Nervous Wreck - Not Good with People: Due to her messed-up upbringing, she hates interacting with others and leaving her safe spaces like her room. A big theme in her supports is her learning to Face Her Fears with help of her housemates.
  • To no coincidence, if she's recruited in other Houses, when Byleth explores the Monastery... they will find her locked up in her room, rather than in other places.
• OOC Is Serious Business: There is one notable moment in the game when Bernadetta voluntarily leaves her room - to put flowers on Jeralt's grave.
• Older Than They Look: At the start of the game, she's 17. She looks 13/14 tops.
• Parental Neglect: Bernadetta's mother doesn't abuse her, and Bernadetta herself seems to look up at her, but she works in the capital of the Empire and cannot pay lots of attention to her daughter. The lady pretty much arranged for her to be kidnapped from the Varley lands to send her to the Academy. (Which is speculated to be her way to help Bernadetta get away from her dad.)
  • The Count's active abuse switched to this when Bernadetta hit her teens, probably considering her as a "lost case".
• Running Gag: Other people tend to pick her up and carry her around like a piece of luggage when she doesn't want to go somewhere.
• Shrinking Violet: With purple hair to match her very awkward and shy personality. It's also a Deconstructed Trope with her, since it comes from her harsh upbringing and, while sometimes Played for Laughs, it's also a genuine flaw that throws wrenches in her way.
• Supreme Chef: The best cook among the Eagles.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Cake. i.e, one can have Byleth tell her that someone left her some cake outside her door to lure her outside.

Caspar von Bergliez

A boy from the Black Eagles, the second son of Count Bergliez. His clan has many, many noble warriors.

• Always Someone Better: His dad Leopold and older brother are this to him.
• Ambiguously Bi: The fact that he and either Ashe or Linhardt can set off in a years-long travel together if they have a shared ending has not been missed by the fans, but it's also heavily implied he and Hilda had sex if you get their A support.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: The trailer had him using the new Gauntlets weapon. In fact, Gauntlet-using Classes like Fighter are pretty good for him technically speaking.
• Blood Knight: Maybe the most eager to go into battle among the Eagles
• But Now I Must Go: He can travel through the world with either Ashe or Linhardt, if he reaches A support with them.
• Childhood Friends: Him and Linhardt have known each other since they were six years old.
• Foil: He has one in Hilda of the Golden Deer, both of them being the younger sibling of their powerful, lauded older sibling and coming from a house of military might. Unsurprisingly, they can get married down the line.
• Hot-Blooded: A very passionate young man with strong emotions and a just a strong sense of justice. He tones it down slightly after the five-years Time Skip.
• I Got Bigger: Looks quite older and stronger after the Time Skip.
• Jabba Table Manners: He tends to stuff his face while eating - Linhardt will even complain about Caspar chewing with his mouth open if you pair them up during meal time.
• Leeroy Jenkins: He has a tendency to rush in without thinking, as seen in a C support with Byleth where he decides to chase after a shady thief and Byleth has to chase after him to protect him from stronger enemies.
• Lethal Chef: Is one of the worst choices for working with in the kitchen. Given his lack of patience, it makes sense.
• Middle Child Syndrome: As the second child of his noble family, this young man wants to forge his own fame via becoming a fine officer. However, it's implied that his father does care for him and see him as more than good enough for the clan's standards.
• Oblivious to Love: If a girl likes him, she pretty much has to SHOUT that to him. Reaches a rather hilarious extreme if the one doing so is Hilda.
• One of These Is Not Like the Others: A Noble without a Crest.
• Pink Girl, Blue Boy: He forms this duo with Hilda. They can even marry if they reach an S-support.
• Sins of Our Fathers: Caspar is horrified to realise that his father was responsible for killing Petra's and tells Petra he doesn't blame her if she hates him and wants revenge. Luckily, Petra doesn't hold Caspar responsible at all.
• What The Hell, Hero?: In his C support with Edelgard he calls her out for projecting her own issues with nobility onto him and tells her she always makes everything about her. It turns out he misunderstood her, though, and Edelgard does apologize for not making herself clearer.

Dorothea Arnault

A commoner young lady who sang in an opera troupe, then went to study in the Academy and joined the Black Eagles.

• Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: She gets quite offended if Byleth doesn't reciprocate her flirting and usually plays it off by pretending to have just been kidding.
• Babies Ever After: If she marries Hanneman or Ferdinand. Even more so, in the latter case, their kids are also good singers!
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Felix and Ferdinand.
• Bi the Way: Can be romanced by either of the Byleths. She also discusses marriage with Edelgard and her shared endings with her, Petra and Manuela have her becoming the other woman's spouse in all but name.
• Brainy Brunette: Her strongest trait is her talent for Reason magic, implying she's pretty booksmart despite not having had a proper education in the past. Some of her endings, like the one with Petra, hint that she has also talent for diplomacy and government work.
• Broken Bird: She has... issues. Severe, dramatic issues.
• Brutal Honesty: The girl is blunt. EXTREMELY blunt.
• Cool Big Sis: Does her best to be this to Bernadetta and Ingrid in their supports.
• Cultured Badass - Elegant Classical Musician: She adores arts in general, but especially singing.
• Disappointed in You: If she's recruited into the Blue Lions but Ferdinand is not AND they face one another in a certain battle, they have a special talk where she tells him this. Still, if he's killed off while she survives, she later tells Byleth that she still considered him a friend.
• Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Has earrings and a choker, and seems to like glamorous jewelry in general.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Oh damn. Dorothea is VERY popular with many of the girls in the cast (whether they can marry both Byleths or not like her), and at least two of her A shared endings all but scream that she and another lady get married. This is especially notorious since, in this game, only Byleth has S-supports - and yet Dorothea can have super romantic endings with ladies that Female Byleth can't officially court.
• Fan Girl: Of Professor Manuela, who was the star of her and Dorothea's opera group.
• Foil: To Hilda of the Golden Deer. Both of them are The Tease and Cool Big Sis of their house, but Dorothea is a Heartwarming Orphan who rose to fame in the Mittelfrank Opera, while Hilda was born into a very old, powerful house. Dorothea is hard-working but blinkered by her past experiences while Hilda is lazy but incredibly perceptive. They're both friendly with their respective Lords but while Dorothea admits she doesn't know Edelgard as well as she thought post-timeskip, Hilda becomes Claude's Number Two and can even marry him.
• Gold Digger: Played with interestingly. She does want a partner who can support her for the rest of her life, and in fact some of her supports have her getting ready for dates or flirting with guys, but that's not just due to money but due to how she was a poor and lonely orphan and is terrified to ever find herself alone and destitute again. What she actually wants is not just a partner with money (even if it's quite the bonus), but one who can love her for the person she is and not for the glamorous songstress image she projects.
• Hate at First Sight: There's one person she really dislikes, and it's Ferdinand.. Who's completely baffled by her loathing of him and is determined to find out why. It's due to her chance encounter, in which she mistakenly believed he looked down on her. If they support to the end, she warms up to him.
• He Knows Too Much: Her and Ingrid's Paralogue has Dorothea marked for death because she knew that her prospect fiancé was bad news from the beginning.
• Heroic Bastard: Dorothea's late mother was a maid for an Adrestian noble house, but she never knew her father. She speculates that he might have been a nobleman and that he threw the two out because baby Dorothea did not have a Crest.
• Irony: Dorothea hates nobles but she's in a house exclusively populated by nobles due to her living in Adrestia.
• Miss Fanservice: She's very beautiful and her outfit's a bit more revealing than others, but not necessarily to Stripperiffic levels. She plays it MUCH straighter after the Time Skip, wearing a dress that shows off her breasts (which have grown even bigger), most of her back and some of her butt.
• Nice Hat: A cute black one, before the Time Skip.
• The Nicknamer: "Edie" for Edelgard, "Bern" for Bernadetta, "Hubie" for Hubert, "Ferdie" for Ferdinand, "Yurikins" for Yuri, etc.
• Not So Above It All: Dorothea likes to see herself as a Cool Big Sis for her fellow students, but she can be decidedly immature and petty sometimes, such as her support chain with Ferdinand where she tells him point-blank that she hates him, refuses to elaborate and gives him vague clues that he's "like a bee" to see if he can figure it out. And then she learns in their A support it was all just a misunderstanding based off her own assumptions, though to be fair she does apologise to Ferdinand over how she handled the situation.
• Penny Among Diamonds - Self-Made Woman: The only commoner from the Black Eagles. She once was a poor and lonely orphan, then worked as a singer in an opera company before coming to the Academy.
• Shipping Torpedo: There's a Paralogue where she plays this role when one of the Academy girls (specifically, Ingrid) gets a marriage proposal.
• Spy Couple: Her ending with Hubert has her rejoining the Mittelfrank Opera... and both of them using it as a cover for a HUGE intelligence operation for the Empire.
• Stepford Smiler: She seems to be a Genki Girl, but actually hides her self-esteem issues (especially her fear of being poor and alone again) and her disdain of many nobles under her cheery facade.
• The Tragic Rose: She often compares herself with roses, and she's had a harsh life. One of her battle quotes is even "Only thorns left on this rose."
• Zettai Ryouiki: Sports this as part of her academy uniform.

Ferdinand von Aegir

A noble young man from the Aegir Dukedom, one of the most noble clans in the Adrestian Empire. It's believed that, when Edelgard becomes the Emperor of Adrestia, Ferdinand is the top candidate to be her Prime Minister. He holds the minor Crest of Cichol..

• Antiquated Linguistics: Like Flayn, he speaks in a very formal, proper manner.
• Blade on a Stick: His weapon
• Blue Blood: Downplayed, he's proud of his noble-hood but is not a snob over it. In fact, he believes that being a noble means he must work extremely hard for the sake of the people instead of relying on his high status, and he absolutely despises how his father and others don't follow such standards.
• Birds of a Feather: With Lorenz, both of them being upstanding nobles who wish to correct the mistakes of their fathers. They also both really like tea.
• Childhood Friends: He and Constance von Nuvelle. It can go into Childhood Friend Romance.
  • Arguably, also to Edelgard since they've been rivals for a long time.
  • Subverted with Dorothea: they met as kids, but it happened only once.
• Determinator: He's a very hard-worker, and when he has a goal he will not stop until he's filled it.
• Does Not Like Spam: He hates coffee and blue cheese.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Lets his hair grow to Long-Haired Pretty Boy levels after the Time Skip. He says it's because the situation has become so chaotic, he cannot even stop to pay attention to his looks.
• First Guy After All - Forgotten First Meeting: As it turns out, he and Dorothea met before they joined the Academy. But theirs was an... awkward encounter, and he eventually forgot while she did not. When she tells him about it, he's completely shocked.
• Guide Dang It: One of the pre-requisites to pilfer him from the Eagles is to have a good Heavy Armor level. This attribute isn't exactly the easiest to raise.
• House Husband: If he marries Professor Manuela.
• It's All My Fault: In Three Hopes, he asks Edelgard to allow his father a fair trial for his crimes against the Empire, but then Ludwig is sprung from jail by Those Who Slither and starts a revolt against Edelgard. Ferdinand is horrified by this turn of events, citing his request for a fair trial to be the reason for it.
• Jack of All Stats: Can perform well in many classes, save for Magical ones.
• My Name Is Inigo Motoya: Pre-timeskip, every time you select him for battle, he will announce "I am Ferdinand von Aegir!"
• Nice Guy: Despite his pride, he is a kind person.
• The Rival: Views himself as this for Edelgard. Not without reason: his father is among the leaders of the Insurrection of the Seven and got Edelgard's father the Emperor stripped of his influence. This also extends to his fellow Black Eagles, especially Edelgard's retainer Hubert.
• Sarcasm Blind: Best seen in his C support with Linhardt, who makes several sarcastic equips that go right over his head.
• Sore Loser: He doesn't take defeat well, but it generally inspires him to keep working and going on.
• Trademark Favorite Drink: Tea.

Linhardt von Hevring

The son of the Earl of Hevring, who holds the minor Crest of Cethleann.

• Afraid of Blood: He does not like the idea of drawing anyone's blood, and it takes him a while to get over his first kill. He's still unnerved about such things in the Time Skip.
• Ambiguous Disorder: It's not uncommon for players to assume Linhardt was written to possibly be on the spectrum. Many of his personality traits line up with this, such as his tendency to becoming fixated on research to the point of ignoring everything else, his high intelligence but awkward social skills, etc.
• Ascended Extra: One of the non-house leader kids who goes into Abyss in the Cindered Shadows DLC, alongside Ashe (for the Lions) and Hilda (for the Deers)
• Bi the Way: Can be romanced by either a male or a female Byleth. And as said above, his shared end with Caspar is pretty Ho Yay-tastic.
• Blithe Spirit: He quite appreciates his freedom, and dislikes politics and his duties.
• Brilliant but Lazy: He's incredibly smart and has the potential for great things, but he'll only apply himself if something actually interests him and would sooner spend the days napping.
• Brutal Honesty: He's one of the very few people who calls Edelgard out on her proud and stubborn behavior, and tends not to be very tactful when he speaks in general.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady / Pretty Boy: Oh yes.
• Fleeting Passionate Hobbies: Hubert chides him for this in their C support, stating that Linhardt wastes his considerable intellect chasing one thing after another before losing interest.
• Heavy Sleeper AND Sleepyhead: He loves, loves, LOVES sleeping.
• Innocently Insensitive: This crops up a lot in his supports, but a prime example is his support chain with Lysithea where he figures out that she has two Crests and starts asking her a bunch of questions, citing it as a fascinating research opportunity. This greatly upsets Lysithea, who has severe health conditions because of said Crests since one of them was forced on her through experiments and she understandable blows up at him for how insensitive he's being, leading Linhardt to be one of the very few people who manages to cure Lysithea by the end of their support chain.
  • He's one of the only students (the other being Hubert) who doesn't offer Byleth any condolences after Jeralt's death and talks about sneaking into the library instead.
• Ironic Name: His name translates to "lionheart", which Linhardt is decidedly not and he never gets used to war and bloodshed.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's lazy and cynical, but is not cruel at all.
• Lazy Bum: Subverted: he's said to be this in general... unless he's Doing Research about Crests. Then he becomes VERY focused and energetic, forgetting to eat and even to sleep as he works.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Lets his hair grow quite longer after the Time Skip.
• Odd Friendship: With Caspar, having known him since they were about six years old.
• Tantrum Throwing: The usually laidback Linhardt gets unexpectedly worked up in his C support with Catherine when she refuses to let him study Thunderbrand.
• White Mage: His specialty is Faith/White Magic, which can make him one of the best Combat Medics in the cast.

Petra Macneary

The granddaughter of the king of the Brigid Islands, who has just arrived to the Officer's Academy.

• All of the Other Reindeer: Her Berserk Button is discrimination, and she can potentially bond with Claude over it if she's recruited by the Golden Deers.
• Altar Diplomacy - Arranged Marriage: If she has an A support with Hubert, they marry as a part of an agreement between Adrestia and Brigid. Though the ending in itself states that this is a Perfectly Arranged Marriage rather than a purely political one: busy as they were, they had many children and their home was a warm and happy one.
• Ambiguously Bi: Even when she cannot marry Female Byleth, her shared ending with Dorothea has Petra all but marrying her.
• Facial Markings: A purple one under her right eye.
• Foreign Exchange Student: She's a princess from the land of Brigid, an Adrestian protectorate. It's thanks to this that Petra gets the chance to study at the academy. In practice, she's a sort-of "hostage" taken away from Brigid into Fodlan so her grandfather the King will stay in line. She's... not super happy about it, though her feelings on it may change if she stays with the Eagles.
• Hot Chick with a Sword: Her preferred weapons are swords.
• Lady and Knight: She and Ashe, if they get together.
• Nature Hero: Petra's a spiritual person and she says in Brigid they have a connection to nature and spirits. She bonds with Claude over this.
• Nice Girl: Petra is kind and by far one of the most approachable students despite the language barrier, and pre-timeskip she's the only Black Eagle everyone likes and has no issues with from the start.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Her endings have her becoming quite The High Queen for Brigid.
• Schrödinger's Cat: Whether Petra stays loyal to the empire or decides to fight back against them depends entirely on if you're playing Crimson Flower where she does the former, or Azure Moon or Verdant Wind where it's the latter.
• Teen Genius: She's the second youngest student in the Academy, and she's a very good one.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: A side one, which is also braided. (Until the Time Skip)
• Younger Than They Look: She's just 15, and is in fact the second youngest student after Lysithea, but she looks like a 17-18 year old.
• You No Take Candle: The reason why her grammar is terrible is because she isn't used to the spoken language of Fódlan. She does get more or less better with time.

Hubert von Vestra

The eldest son of Marquis Vestra, he's a subordinate of Edelgard and a student at the Academy.

• Antagonistic Offspring: He despises his father for his actions during the Insurrection of the Seven and has been plotting against him ever since. He does have a soft spot for his mother and younger siblings, though.
• Bad Guys Do The Dirty Work: Hubert often does things behind Edelgard's back so she doesn't have to sully herself with the more unpleasant aspects of being a ruler.
• Bodyguard Crush - Childhood Friend Romance: He's always been in love with Edelgard, and he pretty much confesses to her in their A support.
• The Dragon: To Edelgard in all other route outside of Crimson Flower.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunet: Fits here to a T, save for his hair being dark green than black.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: His hair is much shorter after the Time Skip. And somewhat fluffier in Three Hopes
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: On one hand, he pretty much solely cares about Edelgard. On the other, his care for her is completely genuine and even if he doesn't necessarily care for the other Eagles (at least at the start), he acknowledges their talents.
• Lady and Knight: Him and Edelgard.
• The Lancer: Towards Edelgard. Delving into The Dragon in other routes than hers.
• The Strategist: His role in the Black Eagles revolves around coming up with tactics to protect Edelgard on the battlefield.
• Nice, Mean and Inbetween: Of the three retainers, abrasive and cold Hubert is the Mean to Dedue's Inbetween and Hilda's Nice.
• One of These Is Not Like the Others: Another Noble who has no Crest. To take it a step further, his noble house also claims no territory within the Empire.
• Trademark Favorite Drink: Coffee.
• Second Love: Any non-Edelgard girl that he supports with to the very end will be this to him. Including a Female Byleth.
• Self-Made Orphan: Executes his own father just to make sure he won't oppose Edelgard when she becomes Emperor
• Team Dad: If the player chooses the Crimson Flower/Scarlet Blaze paths, rather surprisingly. He has very creepy looks, seems to care solely for Edelgard at first and is extremely caustic to his housemates, but often ends up playing the "responsible adult" role to them anyway.
• Undying Loyalty: For Edelgard, to the point that if Byleth joins other Houses, s/he cannot convince him to join them. And he even kills his own dad, one of the "top dogs" in the Insurrection of the Seven, to make sure his family won't oppose her.

The Blue Lions

An Officer Academy House that hosts students from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and is led by the Crown Prince Dimitri. It has both commoner and noble students, and is the main house of the Azure Moon route.

The Blue Lions are the center of the Azure Moon route. In it, during the Time Skip Dimitri was framed by the Adrestian Empire (though the Court Mage Cordelia) for the assassination of his uncle and regent, Grand Duke Rufus. Having barely been saved from execution by Dedue, who then went missing and was presumed dead, he's spent five years on the run whereas the Empire invades Faerghus and the only ones able to hold it back are the fathers of his Childhood Friends (Ingrid's dad Count Galatea, Felix's dad Lord Rodrigue, and Sylvain's dad Margrave Gautier) plus Catherine's father Count Charon. Once everyone's reunited, it's time to do two things: to drive the Adrestians out of Faerghus so Dimitri can become King and (perhaps more importantly) to keep the vengeful and angry Dimitri from becoming a bloodthirsty beast.

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

The Prince of Faerghus and leader of the Blue Lions group, he has a minor Crest of Blaiddyd. He's said to be an embodiment of chivalry who nonetheless has a tinge of darkness behind his cheerful facade.

• Adaptational Heroism: Does not go on a murderous rampage during Three Hopes, even when he's at his angriest during the war.
• Adrenaline Makeover: A significant one after the Time Skip. In his case, he's let his hair grow longer and has an Eyepatch of Power.
• Ambiguous Situation: In Verdant Wind, it's explicitly said that he was slain by Imperial troops in the Battle of Gronder Field. In Silver Snow, a slight change of dialogue in the aftermath of a similar situation implies that he may have survived Gronder Field. While many of his classmates mourn him, if Byleth talks to Ferdinand he'll offer a comment speculating on "what [Byleth's talk with Dimitri] could mean"
• Ambiguously Bi: Due to his VERY slashy endings with both Dedue and Felix, and the fact that his relationship with Male Byleth is exactly the same as with a Female one sans an S support/ending combo.
• Animal Motifs: He has two, the lion and the boar. The former because of its associations with royalty (the King of Beasts), his blonde hair and physical strength. The boar because of his habit of charging ahead blindly and goring those who stand in his way.
• The Atoner: Becomes this halfway through the Azure Moon route, after Rodrigue's death and the player are able to bring him back to reality and make him realize what's most important.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Tactics and strategy are not his strong suit and in every route but his own when he doesn't have Byleth to help bring him back from his instability and plot a strategy to fight back the Empire, Dimitri will literally die fighting.
• Bishonen: Soft facial features combined with large blue eyes. After the Time Skip, though, he's definitely lost this image and is more of a rugged yet still good-looking badass.
• Bizarre Taste in Food: Subverted. In his initial support with Flayn, he tells her he enjoys her cooking and even asks for seconds before telling her she can cook for him any time. But in their A support, he reveals he can't even taste the food due to having lost his sense of taste years ago.
• Blade on a Stick: He wields lances in battle.
• Break the Cutie: He went through a massive, MASSIVE loss in the past. More exactly, the Tragedy of Duscur and its repercussions: the caravan he, his father King Lambert, his stepmother/Edelgard's mother Queen Consort Patricia and Felix's brother Glenn (along others) were travelling with was attacked, with the 13-year-old Dimitri as the Sole Survivor. This caused the Faerghusians to blame the people of Duscur, massacre a good part of them, and heavily discriminate the survivors. At the beginning of the game he does his best to cope with the trauma from such a cruel incident, but his fragile mental state becomes even worse after Edelgard is revealed to be the Flame Emperor and the Time Skip. When Byleth finds him in the Azure Moon route, he's crossed the Despair Event Horizon and bringing him back from it NOT will be easy.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: More than one of his supports with women have these dynamics. Especially those he can have with the Byleths (even if he can only marry the Female one) and Mercedes.
  • If Marianne joins the Lions and supports with Dimitri, though, they take turns comforting one another.
• Childhood Friends: With Felix, Sylvain and Ingrid. He and Ingrid can potentially go into Childhood Friend Romance, and his and Felix's shared ending implies that Felix may have been in love with him too. He also was this with Edelgard, who is actually his stepsister since her mother Patricia was the second wife of his father Lambert. It's very strongly implied that Edelgard was Dimitri's First Love... and that she might have liked him back...
• Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: He gains those in the Time Skip, buit loses them after Rodrigue's Heroic Sacrifice and Byleth breinging him back to his senses.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: In Dedue's on Crimson Flower, if the player defeats Dedue before he can transform into a demonic beast.
• Distressed Dude: Happens in both games:
  • In Three Houses, Cornelia kills his uncle Rufus and frames him, leading to his imprisonment and impending execution. Dedue rescues him.
  • In Three Hopes, Cornelia threatens the people of Fhirdiad with her Viskams, leading him to offer himself as a prisoner to save them. He's locked up in a room at the castle and the majority of chapter 7's mission is clearing a path to said room to rescue him.
• Easily Forgiven: Averted. While most of his classmates and peers are glad he's regained his sanity after Rodrigue's death, Dimitri himself acknowledges that he's got a lot to make up for and that he'll have to work hard to do so. He's only officially forgiven after he leads the army in re-capturing the capital of Faerghus and focusing on the kingdom's needs, even when their focus does turn to dealing with the Empire.
• Eyepatch of Power: After the Time Skip, where he's grown into a Badass warlord. Noticeable in that he does NOT have the patch in the Crimson Flower/Black Eagles' route.
• Fallen Prince: In the Azure Moon route, Faerghus has been usurped and taken over by the court mage Cornelia (all but said to be employed by Adrestia and a member of Those...) the Time Skip. The then-regent, Dimitri's uncle Lord Rufus, was murdered and then Dimitri was framed for it (under the excuse that he thought Rufus was the mastermind behind the Tragedy of Duscur); he could barely escape thanks to Dedue (who may or may not have died there, depending on how his Paralogue was played) has spent these five years being hunted down and persecuted, while the fathers of his Childhood Friends plus Catherine's dad (Count Charon) have done their best to try holding Cornelia and her forces back.
  • Similarly, in Silver Snow and Verdant Wind he was imprisoned in Fhirdiad after Rufus' murder and the Empire's invasion but he was able to escape thanks to Dedue and then take refuge in Fraldarius territory, ultimately raising an army in secret so he can fight against Edelgard on his own.
• Fatal Flaw: Dimitri is a good person, but his obsession with revenge born from his horrendous past and the wrathful nature he tries to repress make it extremely easy to lead him into traps and manipulations.
• Go Mad From the Revelation: He does NOT take it well when he discovers Edelgard is the Flame Emperor. It's so bad, the poor man is the fucking page image for Laughing Mad.
• He Who Fights Monsters: He becomes this no matter what path you take, and you see the worst of it in his own story when he's so hell-bent on beating Edelgard and avenging his lost loved ones that he becomes a violent, angry mess. A big part of Azure Moon involves talking him down and helping him regain his heroic resolve so he can do what's best for his allies and reclaim his kingdom.
• I Was Quite a Looker: He starts off as an attractive Bishonen, but by the time the time skip occurs he's become slovenly and unkempt, his hair is much longer and, depending on the route, his eye may or may have not have been straight-up gouged out. Subverted in that the fans found him even more attractive afterwards.
• The Leader: The future king of Faerghus, he has command over members of the Blue Lion, who are themselves subjects of his kingdom. Despite his royal background and authority, he still takes order from Byleth, who instructs him and the other students.
• Limp and Livid: Once he discovers the identity of the Flame Emperor, he can only slouch in sheer rage.
• Meaningful Name: His middle name, Alexandre, is the French version of Alexander, meaning "defender of the people." It's fitting for a heroic protagonist.
• Never Found the Body: In Silver Snow, he's counted among the dead and most dialogue suggests he's a goner. However, the battle of Gronder isn't shown in this route AND Byleth sees him in what can be seen as a dream OR as him briefly showing up to explain himself before running away...
• The Ophelia: It's not hard to see the Dimitri of the early Time Skip as a more violent and gloomy Rare Male Example.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He's a prince, but he's nonetheless on the front lines.
• Ruling Couple: If he either marries Female Byleth or reaches an A support with a lady, his spouse tends to be both his Hot Consort and his Number Two. And they're also quite Happily Married.
• Sanity Slippage: Initially, he's cheerful and chivalrous while hiding his childhood trauma; but after the Time Skip, his mental and emotional health taken a nosedive. In reality, he cracks before said Time Skip - when he finds out that his once-friend Edelgard is the Flame Emperor.
• Skewed Priorities: Played for drama in Azure Moon, where Dimitri is too obsessed with getting revenge on the Empire to focus on the needs of his Kingdom. Only when Rodrigue is killed protecting him does he realize the latter is more important.
• Stepford Smiler: Implied in his description. Confirmed in-game.
• Strong Family Resemblance: He looks terrifyingly similar to his late father King Lambert.
• Super Strength: Thanks to the Crest of Blayddid, Dimitri can break things and potentially kill people with his bare hands.
• Survivor Guilt: The guy has a pretty bad case of this.
• Unskilled But Strong: Dimitri is ungodly physically strong thanks to his Crest and having the highest strength growth in the entire game, but he mentions in his support with Mercedes that he envies people who excel at delicate arts like needlework since he's so strong he just breaks the tools he's using.
• Weapon of Choice: He favors lances.

Ashe Ubert (JP: Ashe Durant)

A Blue Lions student who's the adopted son of the well-respected Lord Lonato of Gaspard.

• Ambiguously Bi: Can marry the Blue Lions girls (plus Female Byleth, Petra and Marianne), but also shares endings with Dedue and Caspar. And some of his Garreg Mach dialogues with Byleth about the first make it look like he has quite a crush on him.
• Birds of a Feather: With Ingrid and Dedue. He bonds with Ingrid easily over their mutual love of tales of chivalry and knightly aspirations, and with Dedue over their love of cooking.
• Bishonen
• Break the Cutie: Ashe does NOT take the news about Lonato's rebellion well. At all. And if you don't recruit him before choosing the Crimson Flower route, when you fight him in the final chapter he's retained none of his gentle idealism when if you did recruit him, he's still got a good deal of it left during the War Phase.
• Covert Pervert: Some of the knights' tales he's so fond of are quite racy in nature...
• Dark and Troubled Past - Orphan's Ordeal: Ashe was a normal boy who helped out in the family restaurant, until his parents died. To support himself and his remaining siblings, he resorted to thievery and other unsavory stuff until he tried to rob Lord Lonato's mansion and the man, instead of imprisoning him, took him and his siblings under his wing.
• Dead Brother: Lonato's eldest son / Ashe's adopted brother: Christophe, was executed by the Knights of Seiros.
• Dub Name Change: One of the very few characters to have a completely different last name in the English version than in Japanese.
• Happily Adopted: He isn't Lonato's blood son, but his adoptive dad still treated him as if he was.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Deconstructed. Lonato never told him about the deals with Christophe and his grudge against Rhea and the Central Church, and Ashe ends up feeling guilty as hell for not realizing what was going on.
• Meaningful Name: The name Ashe derives from an English surname in which the family's crest is a silver shield with two black chevronels, probably referencing the character's hair color.
• Promotion to Parent: He only stole from others to provide for his two younger siblings, and even when he's in Garreg Mach he sends them money to support themselves while he's not at Gaspard.
• Supreme Chef: Before being adopted, he worked in his birth family's restaurant. As a result, Ashe is a great cook.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: To Lonato
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: Silver anyway, but he still counts.
• Youthful Freckles

Sylvain Jose Gautier

A Blue Lions member who holds the minor Crest of Gautier. His clan, the Gautier family, hails from the borders.

• Ambiguously Bi - If It's You It's Okay: He hits on every woman in the game (except Petra, Constance and Hapi, whom he can't support with, and Flayn and Bernadetta, for obvious reasons) Implied in his shared endings with Felix, especially the Blue Lions' route one where not only they kinda settle down together, but die in the same day.
  • This is more prevalent in Three Hopes, where it's revealed that the daughter of Lord Gwendal he flirted with was actually Yuri. When Yuri playfully asks him on a date, Sylvain admits he's actually kind of into it.
• All Men Are Perverts: Sylvain is the only student who you don't have to meet any recruitment requirements to get to join your house - if you're female Byleth, he joins as soon as you ask. Plus one of the first conversations you can have with him when exploring the Monastery is him talking about all his attractive female classmates and admitting he even thinks Professor Manuela is good looking.
• Babies Ever After: Fathers several children if he marries Ingrid or Mercedes.
• Big Brother Mentor: When not flirting, he's a bit of an older brother figure. He states when they were kids, Felix would always come crying to him if Dimitri beat him in a duel, much to Felix's annoyance.
• Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: His final support with Ingrid has huge whiffs of this, with him noticing she's gotten prettier lately and stumbling over his tongue trying to tell her.
• Chivalrous Pervert: He really likes sweet-talking girls in his spare time, and in the Blue Lions trailer/initial scenes Ingrid is not pleased when he tries it on her. According to Dimitri's narration, he's done such things pretty much since forever. Heck, someone playing with a Female Byleth can use this to their advantage... via drafting him into other Houses automatically just by making her talk to him early in the story.
• Cry Cute: Has one near the end of his A support with Mercedes.
• The Dutiful Son: Technically, he's the second son of his family but since his brother Miklan does not have a Crest AND was extremely abusive to him as a result, said brother was disinherited and Sylvain became the heir of the family instead. Even worse, he and Miklan eventually become Cain and Abel
• Does Not Like Women: Well, he's kind and respectful to the girls in his class and his female comrades, and doesn't treat women like lesser beings. But when it comes to women as a whole, the guy is a walking, living gender swap of the "has trust issues with men" female archetype, as he's dealt with many a Gold Digger who doesn't see beyond his Crest and noble status and just wants to have babies with him so she can claim noble status for herself.
• Foil: To Hilda of the Golden Deer. Both present themselves as laid-back flirts while harboring Hidden Depths, and both come from families whose territories are the first line of defense against foreign invaders. The difference is that while Hilda never questions Goneril's prejudice against Almyra, Sylvain wants to believe Gautier and Sreng can mend fences someday. He's also one of the very few men who can see through Hilda's act and calls her out on it in their B support (being that he himself is experienced in putting on an act).
  • Both are also the second child in their families who were born with a Crest, while their older siblings were not. Miklan was disinherited over this, and mercilessly abused Sylvain out of jealousy until he was disowned for it. Holst, meanwhile, dotes on Hilda and is widely loved for his strength, with people pointing out that he doesn't even need a Crest to be as good as he is.
• Green-Eyed Monster: He admits as much in his supports with Byleth that he feels jealous that Byleth's life wasn't dictated by them having a Crest and even goes so far as to accuse them of being spoiled because of it. He later admits this was just him venting his own problems onto them and apologises.
• Hidden Depths: He loathes the Crests and how they've influenced life in Fódlan. Understandable, considering the deal with his brother. ie, his C support with Mercedes starts with him flirting with her as usual per his supports, then acting surprisingly serious and even angry on her behalf after she tells him her backstory.
  • He's also among the few Lions who don't hate the people of Duscur, and he even openly seeks Dedue's friendship even when Dedue warns him to not taint his rep via being his friend.
  • As mentioned below, he thinks that the girls who sleep with him don't love him for who he is.
  • He's also Smarter Than He Looks, being the Cavalry unit in the BL route but also having potential to be a magic one.
  • His family have been historically Faerghus's first line of defense against Sreng for centuries. But Sylvain doesn't display any prejudice towards people from Sreng despite having good reason to, and one of his lost items is even a book on the history of Sreng.
• Irony: Despite being such a flirt, he only has five paired endings, the lowest of all the students. His best friend Felix, who isn't interested in romance, has twice the amount of potential wives Sylvain does.
• Made Of Iron: He has good defense growths and it's implied he has a high pain tolerance. When you consider how Miklan treated him growing up...
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Sylvain pretends to just be an easygoing skirt-chaser, but he's easily one of the most intelligent Blue Lions, if not one of the smartest characters in the game. See Hidden Depths above.
• Really Gets Around: Strongly implied that he doesn't only flirt around, but has slept with many girls. In a subversion, he isn't too fond of the girls he sleeps with because he believes that these girls don't love him for himself, but because he is a Crest holder.
• Sad Clown: He hides his true feelings beneath jokes and playful banter but he's clearly much more cynical and jaded than he lets on.
• Shut Up Hannibal!: If you have Sylvain fight Miklan, Miklan will go on a rant about how Sylvain ruined his life by being born with a Crest and Sylvain will tell him to shut up and stop blaming him for all his problems before kicking his ass.
• Stepford Smiler: Sylvain is surprisingly cynical and brooding beneath his carefree attitude, to the point he admits in his A supports with Felix and Ingrid - two of his childhood friends - he didn't think they'd be sad if he fell in battle.
• Troubled But Cute: Sylvain suffers from some serious self-esteem issues thanks to only being valued for his Crest and being horribly treated by his older brother (and it's heavily implied his parents were emotionally neglectful), but he's nevertheless handsome, charming and sympathetic despite his brooding inner thoughts and jaded worldview.

Felix Hugo Fraldarius

A childhood friend of Dimitri, Sylvain and Ingrid; while still somewhat close to the latter two, he barely wants anything to do with the first. He's also the younger son of the Fraldarius House and holder of its Major Crest.

• Ambiguously Bi: His paired endings with Dimitri and Sylvain all but show that he can potentially develop beyond friendshippy feelings for either of them, but he has a very varied pool of potential wives.
• Arrogant Kung Fu Guy and Blood Knight: He's completely committed to his sword play and to often challenge any prospect strong rivals to fights.
• Awesomeness By Analysis: He notes during the month Flayn disappears that Jeritza's swordplay has become more erratic than usual. It turns out that Jeritza is the Death Knight and responsible for kidnapping Flayn.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Dorothea.
• Big Brother Worship: To Glen, who is an Always Someone Better in Felix's eyes.
• Birds of A Feather: With Lysithea, both of them Used To Be A Sweet Kid who became severely jaded after a traumatic incident in their pasts.
• Born Lucky: After a fashion, but Felix is the only student to naturally have a Major Crest.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Deconstructed. He lashed out at his father Rodrigue both verbally and physically for saying Felix's brother Glenn "died like a true knight". However, Rodrigue did not say it to be malicious and has deeply regretted it ever since. Luckily, Three Hopes gives them a chance to make up via support conversations.
• Childhood Friends: He, Ingrid, Sylvain and Dimitri know each other since childhood. Though by the time one meets them, he's DEFINITELY distanced himself from Dimitri after having witnessed, years ago, one of Dimitri's Freak-Outs and realising that something has been very, very wrong with him ever since the Tragedy of Duscur...
• Dead Brother: His older brother Glenn was murdered in the Tragedy of Duscur. This also severely damaged his relationship with his surviving father, Lord Rodrigue, since Felix mourned for Glen heavily while Rodrigue referred to the loss of his eldest son as "a noble sacrifice" (most likely in his own way to mourn), leading Felix to think he didn't care.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Leonie kicks his ass in their first sparring session by catching him in a pit trap, causing him to develop major respect for her style of fighting and the two becoming partners.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Coming from a snowy region, Felix has very pale skin, made all the more striking against his dark hair. The only person who comes from further North than him is Sylvain, who's family lands border their neighbour, Sreng.
• Everyone Has Standards: While Felix spends much of his time training and understands the grave cost of war and fighting, he doesn't like sadism or cruelty and was greatly disturbed when a younger Dimitri appeared to take pleasure in putting down a rebellion that happened before they started at the Academy.
• Friend To All Children: Felix is typically standoffish and abrasive, but he's notably more patient with anybody he's talking to who is younger than him. He also responds positively if you bring up children at the market during tea time.
• Jerkass Has A Point: While he's abrasive and at times comes off as mean-spirited, at times he's not wrong in his criticisms.
  • He calls Dedue out for his Undying Loyalty and asks him if he'd kill innocents like women or children if Dimitri told him to. While his words are harsh, he's not wrong that Dedue's dedication to Dimitri can go too far: Dedue does in fact turn soldiers into Crest Beasts on the Crimson Flower route to ensure Faerghus's victory. And is willing to do the same himself even knowing he'll die in agony.
  • He's quite cruel in how he refers to Dimitri as a boar, a beast, or an animal, but he was the one to see Dimitri go completely unhinged during their first battle and he's proven correct when Dimitri snaps in Azure Moon. He is the only Blue Lion who routinely points out how unstable Dimitri is getting throughout the first half of the game. Though his Time Skip talks with Byleth imply that there was a strong Anger Born of Worry element, and in Verdant Wind he even blames himself when Dimitri falls in battle.
  • He has no patience for Dorothea's flirting and tells her to get lost, given her reputation of a beautiful Gold Digger after a noble husband. He's right in that's Dorothea's goal, but he's wrong on how she has sympathetic motives behind her apparent greed.
  • Felix disagrees heavily with Ingrid about their views on knighthood and he's extremely rude and dismissive of her ideals, but he's not wrong that it glorifies war and sacrifice and that he lost his brother to such sentiments.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's quite the jerk, but deep down he cares for his friends and teammates and softens up considerably in many of his supports.
• Master Swordsman: He really, REALLY wants to be this.
• One of These Is Not Like the Others: He's among the VERY few students that has a Major Crest. And the only one who got his naturally.
• Opposites Attract: Prickly, aloof Felix can romance the cute and wholesome Annette, Flayn or Bernadetta.
• Pet the Dog: His entire support chain with Annette is the only one where he doesn't start off being a Jerkass or pushing people away. He's also very kind towards Ashe in their B rank when Ashe vents to him about his guilt over Lonato.
  • He's unusually patient with Bernadetta in their supports and tries many times to return her satchel to her.
• Picky Eater: He dislikes quite a lot of dishes in the Mess Hall, particularly sweet dishes or dishes that are primarily vegetables. He likes meat and bitter food, and is one of two students who likes Almyran Pine Needle tea (the other being Claude)
• Real Men Hate Sugar: One of the more overtly 'manly' guys in the cast and hates sweet food. Lysithea becomes determined in their support chain to make a cake that Felix will enjoy and bakes him a cake with a lower amount of sugar than usual.
• Replacement Goldfish: He's a little sensitive about being seen as Glen's and will bitterly refute that he is not his brother, even if he'd like to be.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: With Annette or Flayn.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids: Is offended by the romanticizing of knighthood and chivalry, and harshly criticizes Ashe and Ingrid for swearing by them. It's because Glenn died for such ideals, and Felix is lashing out at them for taking his brother away from him.
• Strong Family Resemblance: He looks a lot like his father, but he has his mother's eyes.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In Three Hopes. He's still prickly and serious, but he's less apt to tell his support partners to fuck off and leave him alone. This is especially apparent in his interactions with Dimitri (whom he's openly devoted to), Dedue (whom he respects as his fellow retainer to the King), and Ingrid (whom he openly discusses Glenn with and admits to worrying for instead of hiding it behind chauvinism).
• Tsundere: And holy shit, HOW.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He's said to have been a Shy Blue-Haired Guy as a child, but reinvented himself as an Arrogant Kung Fu Guy after the death of his brother Glen, who was an Arrogant Kung Fu Guy from the start.
• Warrior Prince: He states this is the norm in Faerghus - he learned to hold a sword before he could even read or write.
• Worthy Opponent: He bonds with Byleth over sparring with them, and later he starts to develop respect for Dorothea when it turns out she can use swords.

Annette Fantine Dominic

A girl from the Blue Lions, who's the niece of Baron Dominic (and the estranged daughter of another Academy teacher, Gilbert) and holder of the Dominic Clan's Minor Crest.

• Affectionate Nickname: Her best friend Mercedes calls her "Ann" or "Annie".
• Beware The Nice Ones: She's sweet and cheerful but Annette isn't above putting the hurt on people who threaten her friends and she gets used to killing far easier than Mercedes and Ashe do.
• Black Magician Girl: The closest to this, among the Blue Lions.
• Brooding Boy Gentle Girl: Gentle Girl to Felix's Brooding Boy, if you pair them up.
• Cool Teacher - Hot Teacher: In some of her endings, she becomes a magic instructor.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Tends to trip on big vases and furniture. Her Paralogue has this pulling it twice in a row, much to Gilbert's exasperation.
• Drama Queen: Has a fit when Felix walks in on her singing a silly song about food and immediately assumes he plans to mock her and tell everyone about it. This keeps up throughout most of their support chain. Though considering Felix and the way he acts around others, one can't necessarily blame her for assuming the worst.
• Fiery Redhead: Cheerful and energetic, with red hair to match.
• Girlish Pigtails: That are shaped like donuts. She ditches them after the timeskip.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: She has really cute and huge ones.
• Lethal Chef: She wants to be a Supreme Chef. She's not.
• Letting Her Hair Down: Time Skip!Annette stops using her Girlish Pigtails.
• Morality Pet: She's the only one of the Blue Lions whom Felix treat kindly from the beginning, mostly because she isn't obsessed with knightlihood and chivalry like most of his classmates.
• Opposites Attract: Cheery, go-getting Annette can be paired with the surly introverted Felix or lazy slacker Linhardt.
• Plucky Girl: She's very energetic and hardworking.
• Rescue Romance: Her and Caspar's ending on the non-Crimson Flower routes has them forming this after he rescues her from certain death in the mountains.
• Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: She and Mercedes, oh yes. And if their shared ending is obtained, then they may go into more.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: With Felix or Linhardt.
• She Is All Grown Up: One of the most notable examples, going from looking like a young girl to a young woman.
• Teen Genius: Already graduated from Faerghus' Magic Academy.
• When You Coming Home Dad: Part of the reason she joined the Academy was to find her father, who left in disgrace after the Tragedy of Duscur.

Ingrid Brandl Galatea

A young lady from the Blue Lions, who holds the Minor Crest of Daphnel. Her father is Count Gunnar Galatea, and she's the only one in her clan with a Crest.

• Arranged Marriage: Gunnar is quite persistent about this in regards to her, though it's less to adquirer power and more because Galatea is one of the less developed Faerghus territories and has been struggling horribly so she's THE "hope" for her lands.
• Babies Ever After: Her endings with Claude and Sylvain have them raising many children, and her non-Azure Moon ending with Felix has them settle down after having a child.
• Big Eater: There's ONE thing that makes Ingrid lose her cool - delicious food. Because there were food shortages in her homeland.
• Birds of a Feather: With Ashe, who shares her love of knightly ideals and tales of chivalry.
• Bodyguard Crush: She wants to be a knight and she's a childhood friend of Prince Dimitri. As such, she can develop one for him in their supports - and if they're followed to the end he loves her back, they marry and Ingrid not only becomes King Dimitri's Hot Consort, but insists on fighting on the frontlines by his side.
• Braids of Action: How she styles her Hair of Gold, with a bit of Hime Cut as well. She gets an Important Haircut later, however.
• Child Marriage Veto: Rejects a proposal from a skeevy nobleman who just wants to marry her for her bloodline. Her father understands completely, tearing up the proposal and, if she is taught by Byleth, sending her the Hero's Relic associated with her crest (the lance Lúin).
• Childhood Friends: With Dimitri, Felix and Sylvain. Can go into Childhood Friend Romance with any of them.
• Control Freak: Her Fatal Flaw. Ingrid does want to help other people, but she has a habit of being very bossy and rigid and can come off as nagging. Claude even calls her out on it.
  • Control Freak Has a Point: However, she's not wrong in addressing people's bad habits, it's just the way she goes about it that's the problem. She comes off as pushy and rigid, but she is in no way the first or only person to call people out on their habits (especially in Sylvain's case). Plus, she also proves to be a good influence on Raphael in their A support, where he's cleaned up his messy manners quite a bit, and not all of her supports revolve around trying to fix people's bad habits, like her supports with Ashe where they bond over their love of knightly tales or her supports with Seteth where he's the one giving her advice.
• Fallen Princess: The Galateas are not wealthy despite their prestige, so they put pressure on her to restore the family name and marry well. Ingrid wants to help and support them, especially since her Impoverished Patrician father has made lots of sacrifices to ensure that she'll have everything she needs, but hates the idea of giving up her dreams and ideals to benefit her clan.
• Femininity Failure: Discussed in her supports with Dorothea and Annette. She does move past this during the timeskip, where she starts experimenting with makeup.
• Green Eyes: Rather large ones.
• Knight in Shining Armor: She really, really wants to be this. It brings her quite the conflict with her family, who are relying on her to marry into wealth and mend their VERY serious financial issues due to her having the Crest of Daphnel.
• Incompatible Orientation: Implied to be the case with Dorothea, since Ingrid simply isn't romantically interested in other girls. Even more, Ingrid is the only female student who has no same-sex shared endings. (Flayn doesn't count, since she's not a student even after she joins the player's class.)
• Maybe Ever After: With Dedue. It's never explicitly said they got married, but it IS stated that they became a Battle Couple at King Dimitri's service.
• Not Like Other Girls: A borderline case. Her supports with Dorothea and Annette discuss how she never got into makeup and fashion because she was always too busy training, and she's uncomfortable with the idea of being dolled up for the ball. But she does not reject femininity outright, being impressed with the very ladylike Mercedes and appreciating this aspect of her. Later on she moves away from this trope as she starts experimenting with makeup.
• Noble Bigot: She's a good person... but she dislikes people from Duscur, like the above mentioned Dedue (even when she doesn't attack him). Because her fiancé and First Love from childhood, Felix's older brother Glenn, was killed in the Tragedy of Duscur.. She can actually support with Dedue, however, and if done so she reconsiders her attitude towards him and the Duscurians and apologizes to him fot it.
• Outnumbered Sibling: The only girl AND the youngest among her siblings.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: She was betrothed to Felix's older brother due to their families' desires and he's the one who kickstarted her desire to be a knight. And then he died in the Tragedy of Duscur.
• Second Love: Any guy who romances her, though this is downplayed since she was only around thirteen when Glen died.
• Spirited Young Lady: Deconstructed. She's a noblewoman with quite the Plucky Girl traits, who desires to be a knight and does not want to abide by her family's desires. However, she often feels guilty about it knowing how much her father sacrificed for her so she could have a good life and education.
• Team Mom: Deconstructed. She tells Byleth that she had this "role" among her group of friends, and they were completely lost whenever she wasn't around, but the game shows that this dynamic isn't necessarily very healthy for them as Ingrid is shown to be frustrated having to clean up their messes and they brush it off anyway.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to Annette, Dorothea and Mercedes' Girly Girls.

Dedue Molinaro

A Blue Lions member who is pretty much Dimitri's bodyguard and retainer. He's also a commoner with a truly terrible past, linked to a tragedy that shook Faerghus years ago.

• All of the Other Reindeer: He doesn't seem to be very popular among Faerghusians, so much that he expresses surprise when Sylvain and Ashe willingly spend time with him in their supports.
• Ambiguously Bi: He can get together with the girls from the Blue Lions and a Femaler Byleth, but also has very slashy endings with both Dimitri and Ashe.
• Animals Hate Him: His weaknesses are in Riding and Flying, and a support with Annette has him trying and failing to help her care for the horses due to them fleeing in terror. It's implied his severe expression and somber nature scare them.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: It's said that Dimitri helped him BIG time in the past and that's why he's his butler. More exactly, Dedue comes from a place named Duscur that was pretty much razed after its inhabitants were accused of an attack where Dimitri's father King Lambert, his stepmom/Edelgard's mom Queen Patricia and Felix's older brother / Ingrid's lover Glenn died. Dimitri, however, took Dedue in and showed him kindness despite his checkered origins and how the Faerghus people cannot forgive those of Duscur
• Berserk Button: People can insult this guy as much as they want, but saying one negative thing about Dimitri will get him to bite back hard. Best displayed in his first support with Felix.
• Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: Can be killed off for real if the player fails to complete his paralogue in part one. Additionally, he lacks the plot armor of other retainers, so even if you do get him back in part two he'll still die if he falls in combat.
• Birds of a Feather: With Ashe, whom he bonds with over cooking.
• Dark-Skinned Blond: Of the White-Haired Pretty Boy type.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: If the player defeats him on Crimson Flower before he turns into a demonic beast, he and Dimitri will pass away peacefully in each other's arms.
• Gentle Giant: A huge young man and a very kind, quiet person.
• Guide Dang It: If a certain condition in his Paralogue is NOT fulfilled, he'll be Killed Off for Real and therefore fully unavaliable in the Blue Lions route.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Gives his life to help Dimitri escape execution when he's framed for the murder of his uncle. If the player completed his paralogue in the first part, though, this trope is subverted: Dedue will automatically rejoin the team several chapters into Azure Moon, and he'll explain that his fellow Duscurians saved him..
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Tells other characters who interact with him they shouldn't, since people from Duscur are so hated it could ruin their reputation.
• The Lancer: To Dimitri, oh yes.
• Nice, Mean and Inbetween: Of the three retainers, taciturn Dedue is the Inbetween to Hilda's Nice and Hubert's Mean.
• Real Men Wear Pink: He loves flowers, cooking and gardening.
• Sugar and Ice Personality: His cool and collected behavior masks his kindness.
• Supreme Chef: A damn good cook.
• Undying Loyalty: To Dimitri, and like Hubert he cannot really join another House if Byleth asks him to. And if he has to turn himself into a monster for Dimitri's sake, he will.
• When He Smiles: He does it so rarely, but when he manages a genuine one it's quite heartwarming. His S support with the female Byleth even lampshades this.

Mercedes von Martritz

A woman in her very early 20's who's a member of the Blue Lions, despite being from Adrestia. She has the Minor Crest of Lamine and is best friends with Annette.

• Affectionate Nickname: Her close friend Annette calls her "Mercie"
• Bi the Way: Romanceable by both Byleths, plus other guys. And her and Annette's shared ending is quite romantic as well.
• Big Ol Eyebrows: She has noticeably thicker eyebrows than the other female students.
• Cool Big Sis: Constance outright says she saw Mercedes as an older sister figure and was upset to learn that she almost reunited with her at the Royal Academy of Magic but graduated before Mercedes started attending.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: She's a bit scatterbrained and prone to forget things. She even mentions to Byleth she once went to class in her underwear because she was half-asleep and forgot to get dressed.
• Fallen Princess: She's said to be a noble of Adrestia who grew up a commoner in Faerghus. It's explained that her father was a Baron in Adrestia, but he died when she was a baby. Mercedes' mother remarried Baron Bartels, also from Adrestia, but after the birth of her younger half-brother who got the Lamine crest, Mercedes and her mom were looked down by the family. So they left to live in a church in the east and a merchant from Fhirdad adopted her, and then she went to a sorcery school and later the Academy; still, her adoptive dad HEAVILY pressures her to marry well due to her having a Crest.
• Childhood Friends: She and Constance from the Ashen Wolves.
• Hidden Buxom: While her time skip clothes aren't Stripperiffic, the lack of her long stole and how she now uses a corset reveals that her bust is larger than one would think.
• Greater Need Than Mine: She cannot turn a blind eye to anyone in need.
• Innocent Blue Eyes
• Morality Pet: She's this to a certain opponent. More exactly, to none other than the Death Knight. Who is actually her half-brother Emile.
• Motherly Side Plait: Her hairstyle. Though she cuts her hair short in the Time Skip.
• My Beloved Smother: Mercedes means well, but she can be somewhat unintentionally patronizing with her attempts to be the Team Mom, such as her B support with Annette when they get threatened by a bandit when out shopping, and when Annette threatens the bandit to get him to back off, Mercedes is horrified and it leads to them having a bit of an argument: Annette views it as just protecting herself and Mercedes while Mercedes was upset at Annette potentially putting herself in danger.
  • Felix calls her out on treating him like a Replacement Goldfish for her little brother when she compares them, snapping at her that he doesn't need or want her protection. In their A support, however, he's the one who vows to protect her instead.
  • She also still fusses over and dotes on Jeritza in their supports, which he finds embarrassing. Though a bigger reason is that he's afraid of what his Split Personality will do to her if she gets too close.
• No Pronounciation Guide: It's Mer-seh-dehs, not Mer-say-dees like the car.
• One-Note Cook: Excellent at baking sweets, but her skills with other kinds of food depend on the situation. She's one of the best choices for Byleth to cook with for stat-boosting foods and to raise support, but even then she notes that she's better with sweets than other dishes. Her supports with Ashe also have her struggling to use the right spices in a main dish.
• One of These Is Not Like the Others: The only Commoner (aside of Byleth) who is in possession of a Crest. For very complicated reasons.
• Parental Incest: She was intended to be the victim of this when her stepfather, Baron von Bartels decided he wanted more crest-bearing children, and planned to find Mercedes so he could force her to marry him and have his child, since her and her half-brother Emile's mother was past child-bearing age. Fortunately for her, Emile (who had stayed behind with their cruel dad) found out about the plan, snapped over the idea of his beloved sister being targeted like this, and murdered the bastard in cold blood along with the rest of House Bartels.
• Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: With Annette and Constance.
• Team Mom: To the Blue Lions as a whole, being the oldest of them at 22 and the maternal core to the more troubled students. Notably, she's the only student not part of Dimitri's childhood friend group to call him by his first name without prompting and treats him like a peer, easily sees through Sylvain's womanizing without judging him for it, and she's the only one capable of calming down The Death Knight, who is actually her little brother, Emile.
• Token Wholesome: Several girls go through quite the Adrenaline Makeover after the 5 years. Mercedes, however, still dresses more conservatively compared to them
• Wardrobe Malfunction: She recounts to Byleth how once she was running late to class and, half-asleep, she ended up showing up still in her underwear.
• White Magician Girl: The best healer in the Blue Lions house.

The Golden Deer

Led by Claude, the grandson of the leader of the Leicester Alliance, the Golden Deers is the House with most students of commoner origins.

The Deers are the center of the Verdant Wind route. Through the Time Skip, Claude inherited the leadership of the Alliance from his grandfather Duke Oswald, and has more or less managed to drive action to a stalemate and keep the Alliance somewhat united (save for the Gloucester lands). Now that Byleth is back, he wants to start properly fighting back against the Empire and see what is the real cause of the whole mess...

Claude von Riegan

Leader of the Golden Deer, destined to be the leader of the Alliance since his grandfather, Duke Oswald, is its current one. Has the Minor Crest of Riegan.

His actual name is Khalid, and he changed it to Claude to keep his true origins as a half-Almyran, half-Leicester young man and the son of the unnamed King of Almyra away from people who'd use this against him.

• Abdicate the Throne: Several of his endings have him leaving the leadership of Leicester, often to reclaim his Almyran birthright instead. Though sometimes he straight up disappears, like in his and Lysithea's shared ending: they're set to be Star-Crossed Lovers since she refuses to be his Hot Consort due to her being the local Ill Girl... but he then abdicates, manages to Find the Cure, finds her and they disappear together.
• Affectionate Nickname: He calls Byleth "Teach" and he's the only one of the Lords to refer to them so casually.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In Three Houses, he has his serious moments and discusses his issues here and there, but is overall the most lighthearted and well-adjusted of the three lords. In Three Hopes, the business with Shahid and his being forced to helm the Alliance round table sooner than he expected brings his vulnerabilities and insecurities to the surface. He's shown expressing self-doubt and regret more easily, and to more people than just the Player Character.
• Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed. He's still a kind person, but is much more willing to use ruthless methods and outright intends to kill Rhea in Three Hopes.
• Adrenaline Makeover: While he looks more or less close to his youthful appearance after the Time Skip, his clothes/armor are more detailed (and more yellow and beige than black) and he not only slicks his hair back, but grows his sideburns longer.
• All of the Other Reindeer: It's implied that he's been discriminated in Leicester for being illegitimate. He's also half-Almyran, but nobody knows that and he'd rather not tell for obvious reasons.  Which has a role in him not judging people just for their origins.
• Ambiguously Brown: Edelgard and Dimitri are pretty pale, Claude is not. It's because his father is the King of Almyra.
• And That Little Boy Was Me: In his A support with Marianne he tells her about a little boy who was treated like an outsider his entire life and decided to create a world without boundaries. It's obvious he's talking about himself and explains to Marianne not to let your burdens define you.
• The Archer: The first Lord-like character who fights with bows from the very beginning. (Alm and Lyn can use bows, but only after they're promoted)
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's been described as someone who is easygoing, but still not to be trifled with.
• Big Brother Instinct: To Lysithea, taking great joy in teasing her and riling her up... but he also tries to look out for her wellbeing by stopping her from overworking and takes finding a cure for her very seriously.
• But Now I Must Go: In his S support with Byleth, he leaves to go sort things out back home before returning to their side.
• Cain And Abel: In Three Warriors, he's the Abel to his older half-brother Shahid's Cain.
• Constantly Curious: Claude is always sneaking around the monastery to found out as much as he can about its history, he's very inquisitive with interacting with others and can't resist a secret. Fittingly, Verdant Wind is the only route where the entire plot is properly explained.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: In his route his classmates tend to be more informal and tease Claude than Edelgard or Dimitri's classmates do with them and outright question him a lot pre-timeskip. This does start to fade after the timeskip though he is irritated that Judith and Nader still call him "boy" despite being the leader of the Alliance.
• Everyone Has Standards: He's very inquisitive and relentless about finding out the truth, but he won't push people to open up to him when they clearly aren't ready - in fact, the only time you can lose affection with Claude is if you insist on pressing Flayn for info after you rescue her from being kidnapped.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: As said above, he slicks his hair back when older.
• Fatal Flaw: Claude's reluctance to throw himself into conflict and stay Heroic Neutral can be a problem for him in all routes not his own, as he cannot unite the Leicester Alliance to marshal against the Adrestian Forces and either has to surrender and flee (Crimson Flower) or reach out to Byleth and Dimitri for help (Azure Moon).
• Heroic Bastard: Claude's mother Lady Tiana is the daughter of Duke Oswald von Riegan (the current leader of the Leicester Alliance), and he was only recently acknowledged by his maternal family. His father turns out to be none other than the King of Almyra, making him the Prince of that land as well. Whether his paternal family acknowledges him or not, it depends. Claude himself tries to keep his exact parentage under wraps, however, sometimes saying he's just the son of a Riegan offshot. . .
• Heroic Neutral: He, the Alliance and the Golden Deer try to be this in other routes. It can potentially lead to Claude surviving to the end of the game.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: He recounts to Hilda in their B support how when he misbehaved as a boy, he'd be tied behind a horse and dragged around. Hilda is horrified but Claude attempts to downplay it claims there's a "trick" to it.
• Hotblooded Sideburns: Gains a somewhat thinner pair after the Time Skip.
• The Gadfly: He likes to playfully tease people, especially people who take themselves too seriously.
• Green Eyes: And they're pretty striking!
• Guile Hero - Manipulative Bastard: Implied in his profile, more or less confirmed in the game itself and the 3H-centered events from Fire Emblem: Heroes. He can be extremely sneaky, sly and willing to use underhanded tactics (as long as they are not fatal or too extreme), under the reasoning that War Is Hell and therefore he must use every single trick under the sleeve to protect their allies and win.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He isn't a jerk per se, but extremely pragmatic and determined to protect his people and his friends plus willing to be quite underhanded if needed.
• The Leader: Of the Golden Deer, though he still takes instructions from Byleth.
• Magnetic Hero: Claude is easily the most charming of the three Lords, as Dimitri is polite but painfully awkward and Edelgard often comes off as haughty and standoffish. To reflect this, Claude has by far the most supports with students outside his own house.
• Master Poisoner: Claude suggests non-lethally poisoning the other houses to throw them off before the mock battle. He says he's kidding, but one of his items is a Mild Stomach Poison, hinting he's well-versed in doing this to gain an edge against his abusive older siblings.
• Meaningful Rename: From Khalid, to Claude. All to hide who his real father is.
• Modest Royalty: He doesn't seem to like formalities.
• Nay Theist: He does not like believing in the Gods, though it makes sense he's sceptical about Sothis since he isn't even from Fodlan.
• Pretty Boy: Even after the five-year Time Skip, he's really damn pretty.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: If you bring up cats during teatime, he reacts negatively, but a Drama CD confirms Claude likes to feed the stray cats around the monastery.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets absolutely chewed out by his allies in Three Hopes for sacrificing General Randolph von Bergliez to buy time for the Federation's army at Ailell. Shez and Judith especially give him hell for coming off like he would do the same to any of them if he felt he had to. This is enough to make Claude realize that even if he wants to be more decisive, he doesn't want to go down such a dark path to it.

Lorenz Helmann Gloucester

The eldest son of the house of Count Erwin Gloucester, and bearer of his clan's minor Crest. Despite his snobby demeanor, he is quite serious, fully understanding of his responsibilities as a noble. It seems he has been approaching girls at the monastery, to little success.

• Anime Hair: His rather curious bowl-like cut, which stays as such until the Time Skip.
• Bishonen: Kinda parodied at the beginning, then played completely straight.
• Casanova Wannabe: He's been hitting on the ladies at the monastery, but has come up short so far. Lampshaded if he supports with his Blue Lions Foil, Sylvain.
• Face-Heel Turn: Can potentially ally himself with Adrestia, in certain circumstances. And then he can be recruited back, if the player so desires.
• Feuding Families: His clan and the Riegan clan do NOT get along. And the Gloucesters may have been involved in the death of Claude's uncle, who was the heir to the Alliance before him. Three Hopes actually sheds more light on this, though; it wasn't Erwin himself, but a supposed envoy of House Gloucester.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Most of the people in his house find Lorenz annoying thanks to his fussy, overbearing attitude, especially Claude, Leonie and Lysithea. However, he is still very much their friend and he does mellow out a bit post-timeskip.
• Hidden Depths: Yeah, he's an Upperclass Twit. But he actually has high standards about nobility as a whole and strongly believes that they should aid the disadvantaged. He also wants a prospect wife to not be just a pretty face or a noble lady, but a good partner in their shared life. (Though he does admit that if he had a commoner girlfriend and his family vetoed her, he'd choose the clan over her due to his duty.)
• I Kiss Your Hand: To Female Byleth, if she romances him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: There's a kind heart behind the snobbish behavior, and as said above he genuinely thinks that nobles cannot just loaf around and must work hard for the rest.
• Jerkass Has A Point: He's rude and haughty towards Claude, but he isn't wrong about the suspicions circumstances in which Claude appeared right when the Leicester Alliance was about to have a succession crisis, and later on he and Claude do start getting along better after the timeskip.
  • During his support with Dorothea when he calls him out on his classist beliefs, Lorenz explains that he feels he cannot Marry For Love but that he has to marry to improve the standing of his house and that he must make sure his wife has the temperament befitting a noble. He's not wrong on how Dorothea's confrontational attitude with "stuffy" nobles probably wouldn't endear them to her in high society or that marrying an opera singer wouldn't be particularly advantageous for his house.
• Marry for Love: His endings eventually have him do this, especially if he reaches max support with commoners like Dorothea, Leonie, or Mercedes.
• Noodle People: Lorenz is notably very skinny. It even comes up in his support with Raphael when the latter comments on how little he eats.
• The Rival: Sees Claude as this to himself.
• Spot Of Tea: Lorenz loves tea, it's even an early quest to find a suitable tea party companion for Ferdinand.
• Strong Family Resemblance: He's basically a younger version of Erwin.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Can be this to Claude and to Leonie, through supports.

Hilda Valentine Goneril

A noblewoman from Leicester, the daughter of Duke Goneril and the younger sister of the famous General Holst, plus holder of the Goneril clan's minor Crest. She's lazy and spoiled, but kind nevertheless.

• Alas, Poor Villain: Not her, but still. When Dimitri is killed by Edelgard's soldiers in the Golden Deer path, Hilda witnesses it and is horrified to the point of tears.
• Always Someone Better: The reason for Hilda's laziness is her older brother Holst, who is The Ace and the pride of the Goneril territory. Anything Hilda could possibly do, her brother does it better and so she became a slacker to avoid the crushing expectations she's seen heaped on her big brother.
• All Women Are Lustful: Usually she just uses her body and looks to make guys do what she wants without giving them a second thought. But if she gets far enough in her support chain with Caspar, she actually insists on bringing him back to her bed because she's gotten hot and bothered instead (and it's left up in the air whether they had sex or not). She's the only student to show outward sexual tendencies this way, even more than the also flirty Dorothea.
• Aw, Look — They Really Do Love Each Other: She and Claude poke one another quite a bit, but she does appreciate him even if she's recruited into the Lions or the Church.. In Crimson Flower she's fully willing to lay down her life for Claude, and he's devastated if she does.
  • She gets exasperated by her older brother's overbearing nature but as soon as she hears Holst was defeated she's suddenly raring to go to fight the enemy, something her classmates note is unusual for her.
• Badass Adorable: In the Golden Deer trailer, she claims to be too delicate for fighting... And cue to her using a HUGE axe to attack her enemies. She may qualify as a Glacier Waif, even.
• Boobs of Steel: She can handle physical weapons pretty well, and she has a decent sized bust. The Time Skip gives her even more boobage.
• Childhood Friend Romance: She met Balthus when she was a child and he was a teen. They can hook up and play this trope straight.
• Cool Big Sis: She plays this role to Lysithea and Annette in her supports with them, teaching the former how to be more enticing to guys.
• Defiant to the End: She swears so much by this trope in Crimson Flower, not even Byleth or Balthus can dissuade her from fighting the Adrestians to the death.
• Ethical Slut: A flirty and fanservicey girl, who's also a loyal friend and a sweet person.
• The Fashionista: Said to enjoy fashion and cute stuff. If she lives, she becomes not just a fashion designer but the founder and headmistress of the first arts and crafts school / academy in Fodlan.
• Girlish Pigtails: And they're pink!
• Foil: To Sylvain of the Blue Lions. Both present themselves as laid-back flirts while harboring Hidden Depths, and both come from families whose territories are the first line of defense against foreign invaders. Both are also the youngest child in their family, bearing a Crest while their older sibling does not. The difference is that unlike the jealous bully Miklan, Holst adores Hilda and dotes on her. And while Sylvain believes Gautier and Sreng can make up, Hilda never questioned her family's anti-Almyra sentiments and is even called out for it by Cyril in their supports.
  • She's also a foil to Dorothea in the Black Eagles, as they both use their attractive looks to get their way, although Dorothea is desperately trying to find a husband to support her when she gets older and loses her looks, while Hilda uses her attractiveness to get others to do work for her because she's terrified of people having high expectations of her she can't live up to. Hilda is lazy but incredibly perceptive while Dorothea is hard-working but tends to be blinkered by her own experiences. They also act as a Cool Big Sis to the younger students in their houses, Dorothea to Bernadetta and Caspar and Hilda to Annette and Lysithea.
  • She also has a foil in Caspar - they're the younger child of their accomplished older sibling and feel a lot of pressure over being in their sibling's shadow. Their families have a long military history, with Caspar's father being Minister of Military Affairs in Adrestia and Hilda's family historically being the first line of defense against Almyran invaders. Caspar is honest and straightforward to the point of being gullible while Hilda is shrewd and manipulative. They have an opposite but complementary color scheme, being a Pink Girl, Blue Boy.
• Hidden Buxom: Pre-timeskip, she's got one of the largest chests in the monastery, but she's forced to cover them due to her school uniform. Once war starts and she can pick any outfit, she goes with a Cleavage Window top that her boobs (which are even bigger at this point) spill out of.
• Hidden Depths: For all of her laziness, Hilda is surprisingly perceptive; ie., she's one of the few to note that there's something weird about Monica's Genki Girl behavior , even if she doesn't realize why.
  • She also notes how the Relics pulse like they're alive and notes she finds it creepy.
  • Hilda is one of the few people who can see through Claude, noting that he smiles a lot but it doesn't reach his eyes, and Claude lets Hilda in on a lot more about his past than he does with any other student. Even Byleth doesn't learn about some of the things he lets slip to Hilda until after the timeskip.
  • Despite her carefree attitude, she is one of the most difficult students to recruit as she requires a C proficiency in axes, which no other student shares with her.
  • She comments on how fortuitous Garrag Mach's location is, right in the middle of the three countries. Almost like it was on purpose...
• Irony: In her B support with Byleth, Hilda says she can't understand people giving their lives for their comrades when they could just walk away. In Crimson Flower, Hilda will literally die fighting in order to protect Claude despite him begging her to stand down.
  • Her ancestor was a War Master, a class Hilda is locked out of due to being male only.
• Lady and Knight: She and Claude genderflip it if she's not drafted into other Houses. In fact, if she's killed in Crimson Flower, Claude is very distressed and says he did tell her to escape if things got too rough for her.
• Lazy Bum: She's constantly trying to dodge doing any work, or charm others into doing her share of work! She more or less drops part of this attitude in the War Phase - she still complains but does her share more often than not, and in her Byleth supports she explains that this also ties into her insecurities.
• The Lancer: Like Dedue and Hubert, she's this to her leader despite Claude calling her lazy and stuff. Unlike them, she can be poached away by a Byleth who doesn't choose the Deers... Good luck trying it, however.
• Manipulative Bitch: Framed in a relatively benign way where Hilda uses her cute looks and charm to get other people to do her bidding for her, though she does have her limits - in her support chain with Mercedes she ends up feeling bad about how much extra work Mercedes is taking on and stops palming her work off on her.
• Ms. Fanservice: And she knows it. She constantly tries to seduce boys into doing all her work for her by playing the cute card before the Time Skip. After the five years pass, she picks an outfit with a large cleavage window that reveals her massive boobs and plays the sexy angle instead. Her friend Lysithea even points out how hard she works to look attractive just to avoid work. Her S-Support image has her with her arms over her head to show off her boobs and expose her armpits, just to look more seductive.
• Nice, Mean and Inbetween: Of the three retainers, bubbly and extroverted Hilda is the Nice to Hubert's Mean and Dedue's Inbetween.
• Noble Bigot: While not a bad person, she has quite the prejudices against Almyrans, since her family have been the ones guarding the Leicester borders from Almyran invaders for what's implied to be centuries. If she supports with the Almyran orphan Cyril (who once was a servant in her house), she lets go of them.
• The Ojou: A mix of Spoiled Brat (her profile says that she's "spoiled" and "lazy", Claude confirms it) and Nice Girl (other than this lazy side, she's very cute and sweet)
• Ship Tease: With Claude. Even if you don't pair them up at the end of the game, their supports are incredibly flirty in nature from the get-go and Claude lets Hilda in on way more of his backstory than he does with any other character, plus they both mention constantly watching each other in their A support. In Crimson Flower, Hilda will literally lay down her life to protect him.
• Spoiled Sweet: She's from a very well-respected noble family, but manipulative tendencies aside, Hilda is friendly and sweet and doesn't lord her noble status over anyone.
• Weapon of Choice: Axes. Her Family Relic is the Freikugel axe, even.
• Zettai Ryouiki: Sports this as part of her academy uniform.

Lysithea von Ordelia

The eldest daughter of the Ordelia clan and holder of a Minor Crest of Charon, plus a Major Crest of Gloucester. She's also the youngest student of her generation.

• Always Someone Better: To Annette, who notes that however hard she tries, she can't quite beat the teen genius Lysithea, but Lysithea assures Annette that Lyisthea also works damn hard to get where she is and to use it as a motivator.
• Berserk Button: She loathes being treated like a child, or seeing others being self-deprecating.
  • She also hates it when people tell her she should think about her own future - one she's never likely to have.
• Birds of a Feather: If she's drafted into the Eagles and befriends Edelgard, they bond over having been experimented on.
  • She's also very similar to Felix, being the broody sceptics of their respective house after a traumatic incident in their past made them jaded.
• Black Magician Girl: The best Dark and Reason magic user in her House.
• Dark and Troubled Past: The Ordelia clan got in a huge political mess, and as punishment their children were seized and experimented on with Crests. Lysithea was the only one who survived.
• Elegant Gothic Lolita: Her outfit after the Time Skip resembles the style.
• Fatal Flaw: Her lack of patience and explosive temper. Lysithea has a bad habit of blowing up at people over the slightest thing and storming off. She does always apologise after she's calmed down and starts growing out of it after the timeskip.
• Foreshadowing: One of her favorite gifts is a lily - a flower commonly associated with funerals.
• Good Parents: Lysithea cares deeply about her parents and her reasons for fighting is so they never go through the hardships they did again.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With near any boy she can marry, especially Balthus and Raphael.
• Hypocritical Humor: In her supports with Cyril (the only person in the Academy younger than her), she tells him he should listen to her because she's older and knows better, the exact kind of attitude she hates other people using on her.
• Ill Girl: She has two Crests (more exactly, Three Hopes all but shouts that she was born with the Crest of Charon and had the Crest of Gloucester forcibly implanted on her through experiments), and that has terrible effects on her general health. ie, in her supports with Byleth she overworks herself and faints in front of him/her. Whether a cure for her predicament is found and she improves enough to live long past the events of the game, or she dies shortly after the war itself, or isn't cured but still lives longer than expected... it heavily depends on what ending she gets. ie., she's fully healed if she either marries Male Byleth or Linhardt or befriends Hanneman or Edelgard... but if she falls for Lorenz she lives yet is implied to be bedridden for the rest of her life, if she hooks up with Cyril, Felix or Ignatz she's strongly implied to die young, and if she marries Raphael or Balthus her illness is never really mentioned in their endings.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: She feels trapped in noble-hood AND the experiments she went through have rendered an Ill Girl, so she wishes that she'd be a commoner instead (and probably be a baker). Several of her endings have her and her parents either disappearing or willingly living with commoners; ie, if she has a shared ending with Raphael, she befriends his sister Maya and eventually starts helping out at her and Raphael's Family Business; and if she's with Balthus she, his mother and her parents retire to the Kupala mountains and live peacefully there.
• Impoverished Patrician: The Ordelia clan has gone through... hard times, and as such it has lost almost all of its influence in the Alliance. As their "last hope", Lysithea wants to improve their standing.
• Insufferable Genius: At times, though she does work pretty hard for her skills.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Can develop this with Hanneman.
• Lady of Black Magic: This young woman can learn a vast amount of black magic spells, and even if you level up her white magic, the only spell she ever learns is the basic Heal.
• The Lost Lenore: If Lysithea marries Cyril, Felix or Ignatz, she dies very young and her love interest never forgets her.
• May-December Romance: With Balthus, who's 12 years older than her.
• Misery Poker: Due to her terrible past, she hates when others belittle themselves in front of her and can be really rude when this happens. Then she'll realize that she's gone too far and apologize.
• Motion Sickness: Doesn't have a good time of it on a ship during Three Hopes.
• Picky Eater: She dislikes bitter food, and loves sweets - especially cake.
• Sole Survivor: Of the Crest experiments, Lysithea was the only one of her siblings who survived and even then, it left her incrediblyphysically weak.
• Teen Genius: A magical prodigy at the tender age of 15, she loves to read and study and is one of the smartest students at the Officers Academy.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Her supports with Ignatz and Marianne in Three Hopes are much more friendly and civil. She even chases off a Crest scholar who's harassing Marianne and apologizes for having been so hard on her in the past.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Cake. Her entire support with Felix is her being downright offended that he doesn't think it's the best thing ever.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Claude if the Verdant Wind route is chosen, as she respects his decision to reform the Alliance. Can potentially develop this to Edelgard if she's recruited into the Black Eagles, since both girls were horribly experimented on with Crests.
• White-Haired Pretty Girl: A cute teen girl with white hair. Like Edelgard, it's because of Crest experiments that have shortened her lifespan. We don't know what color her hair originally was.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She HATES ghosts.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Lysithea mentions her frail health is why she works so hard. Her two Crests have drastically shortened her lifespan and in many of her supports, Lysithea will die tragically young.

Raphael Kirsten

A commoner young man who lost his parents tragically when he was young, but does his best to keep contact with his still-living sister Maya and remains spirited and optimistic no matter what.

• Best Friends-in-Law: In his ending with Ignatz, who marries Raphael's younger sister.
  • Also implied in his and Lysithea's ending, since Lysithea becomes best friends with Maya.
• Big Eater: It's said that one of his main worries is the menu of the day at the cafeteria, and he's seen eating in the Golden Deer trailer. Justified: not only he's The Big Guy but he focuses a lot in training, so he truly needs more food than average.
• Bridal Carry: To Female Byleth, if she romances him.
• Bromance: With Ignatz. Arguably, with Dimitri if he's poached into the Lions.
• Dumb Muscle: He wants to be a knight and has the build for one, but he isn't enthusiastic on sitting through lectures...Or thinking things through. Ultimately downplayed, as after some pep talks with Byleth he decides to apply himself to studying anyway so he can be a good knight.
• Family Business: Raphael's remaining relatives (namely, his and Maya's grandfather) have a bakery. Some of his endings mention that he either fully took over the baking business when he retired from knighthood, or due to the grandpa's age he first helped out part-time, then retired early and became the one in charge.
• Gentle Giant: A big boy with a heart of gold.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Female Byleth is rather tall, but Raphael is THAT big and beefy. Something similar happens with near any other woman he can be paired up with, especially Hilda or Lysithea.
• Parental Abandonment: His merchant parents died when he was young. His younger sister still lives, and Raphael cares for her lots and sends her gifts once in a while.
• Younger Than They Look: He's just 18 at the start of the game!

Ignatz Victor

Another commoner student from the Golden Deer, born in a merchant family.

• The Archer: His speciality.
• Bookworm: He's quite booksmart and arts-oriented.
• Fantasy-Forbidding Father: His parents discourage his artistic pursuits and want him to become a knight instead. They have good reasons for it and they're not bad people, but it still gave Ignatz rather poor self-esteem as he belittles and dismisses his own talents.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: A lot of his supports have him downplaying his artistic talents.
• Hidden Depths: It's implied that even when he came into the Academy to become a knight, he'd rather dedicate himself to something else. If he lives to the end, it's said that he became a gifted and famous artist.
• It's All My Fault: Blames himself for Raphael's parents' deaths because they were filling in for Ignatz's own, and the were unable to do anything to help Raphael and his sister Maya afterwards. He spends half their support set avoiding Raphael over this, until Raphael tells them to let it go and that what happened with their parents shouldn't affect their friendship.
• Megane: He's a cute looking boy who wears glasses.
• The Smart Guy: He has quite the appreciation for the arts and the aesthetics.

Leonie Pinelli

A Golden Deer member who's the daughter of a hunter and has come to the Academy to become a rich mercenary.

• Because You Were Nice to Me: She borrowed money from her fellow villagers to come to the Academy, and is determined to return both the cash and the favor as soon as she can.
  • It turns out Jeralt and his mercenary band saved her life when she was a kid, and that's why she admires him so much.
• Berserk Button: Don't insult Captain Jeralt in any way. Don't say she's not enough of a girl. Do NOT side with the Black Eagles and then NOT recruit her; she'll be VERY angry towards both Byleth and the GD's who side with Edelgard.
• Bifauxnen: Subverted: she seems to be this at first thanks to the initial illustrations... but when she actually shows up in trailers and the game, she turns out to be quite tomboyish but not manly-looking.
• Boobs of Steel: Her whole portrait shows that she has a rather large chest. She's also THE cavalry unit among the Golden Deers and quite good with lances and bows.
• Curtains Match the Window: Her hair and eyes are of exactly the same orange-red tone.
• Celibate Heroine: She's rather disinterested in romance, and some of her paired endings are less romantic-sounding than the standard.
• Debt Detester: She really dislikes the idea of owing anyone anything. Bad thing, she often finds herself in situations involving debts.
• Declaration of Protection: If she's poached away from the Deers, she says she will go with Byleth because she wants to protect them.
• Fan Girl: Of Byleth's father, Jeralt. She even seems to view Jeralt's child Byleth as The Rival, which Byleth does not reciprocate at all.
• Fiery Redhead - Hot-Blooded: And H O W.
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl: After the Time Skip. It makes her even quite a Butt Monkey
• Gender Blender Name: Averted: her name, the feminine version of "Leon", gives away that she's a girl.
• Girliness Upgrade: Subverted: she looks more feminine after the 5-years Time Skip, but she's more of The Ladette (especially considering her drinking habits). Though again, she doesn't seem to be super thrilled over not being seen as a girl.
• Jerk With A Heart of Gold: She's somewhat abrasive at first glance and is quite rude to Byleth early in the game over feeling jealous of Byleth being Jeralt's child, but ultimately she's a good person at heart.
  • She snaps at Marianne in their C support, assuming Marianne is avoiding her, only to realise her mistake later and apologise for being so pushy.
• Money, Dear Boy: She swears by this trope, though as seen above she has her reasons.
• Self-Made Woman: She's a commoner born in a hunter family and want to be this.
• Tomboy: And H O W.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: At first, fans weren't sure if Leonie was a boy or a girl. The Golden Deer trailer cleared it up by having Claude refer to her as a woman AND showing her in a modified version of the girls' uniform of the Academy.

Marianne von Edmund

A shy lady from the Golden Deer, the adoptive daughter of Margrave Edmund and holder of an unnamed Crest. She's also very religious and fond of praying.

• Arranged Marriage: She says that one of the reasons her adoptive father sent her to the Academy is to get her a to marry a nobleman.
• Birds of a Feather: With Dimitri, who also feels cursed with misfortune thanks to the Tragedy of Duscur.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: She and Dimitri take turns at this, whereas Claude can be HER Gentle Guy.
• Combat Medic - White Mage: The best healer in the Golden Deer house, albeit her spells are more geared towards attacking than healing.
• Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: Subverted, she has them but she's more shy than creepy. And she loses them in the Time Skip.
• Dude Magnet: Despite her antisocial ways, Marianne's looks and mystique make a lot of guys take notice of her, even if she doesn't want the attention.
• The Eeyore: This young lady has enormous self-esteem issues, and as a result she brings self and sometimes others down. This is so severe that she's actually suicidal - she tells Byleth in their supports that her usual prayers at the Church were ones where she begged the Goddess to take her with her. Since Marianne doesn't show up in the Time Skip if the GD aren't the Chosen House and she isn't recruited in the others, and if she falls in battle before said skip it's said that she eventually runs away from Garreg Mach, it's believed that she may eventually kill herself.
• Friend to All Living Things: Her timidity disappears when she interacts with birds and animals.
• Heroic Lineage: Marianne is supposed to have this, since she has a Crest of mysterious origins. It's the Crest of the Beast, coming from the Fallen Hero Maurice.
• Hidden Buxom: Her Heroes alters have her show more skin (one has her and Hilda in swimsuits, another has her in the Dancer get-up, and a third one has her in a Dark Flier-like short dress), and one sees that she actually has a very large chest.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Being a noblewoman is something she really hates, since she's faced abandonment and isolation due to it and her Crest of the Beast..
• Insistent Terminology: Every time Margave Edmund is brought up, she always adds that he's her adoptive father, which makes sense since Marianne still remembers and cares for her real parents.
• Like Father, Like Son: Inverted, Marianne feels that she has nothing in common with her very shrewd and charismatic adoptive father.
• The Quiet One: She rarely if ever speaks at first.
• Religion Is Magic: Marianne is very devoted to her religious beliefs, and she's quite good at Faith Magic.
• Shy Blue-Haired Girl: She has light blue hair and is so shy, some of her classmates have never really heard her speak. She also has severe self-esteem issues, coming from the belief that her Crest of the Beast will make her unfortunate..
• Silk Hiding Steel: A part of her Character Development is about her growing into this.
• Unkempt Beauty: Pre-timeskip Marianne has somewhat dishevelled hair and bags under her eyes but she's still noted by several other characters to be very attractive.
• What Happened To The Mouse?: If you don't recruit Marianne in Crimson Flower or Azure Moon, she doesn't appear in the game again after the timeskip.
• When She Smiles: If Marianne is romanced by Male Byleth, she gives an adorable smile.

The Ashen Wolves

A group introduced in the DLC mode "Cindered Shadows". They seem to be the closest to an unofficial "Secret House" within Garreg Mach, and they dwell in a place named Abyss which is located underneath the Officer's Academy - housing all kinds of people who, for one or another reason, have been shunned by Fódlan society. One of the Cardinals of the Church of Seiros, Aelfric, is the link between the Abyss citizens and the Church itself.

The story involving the Wolves is kickstarted when Rhea and Alois discuss information about four lost heroes of yore, known as the Four Apostles. After hearing and discussing rumors about Abyss itself, then finding a passageway to its grounds, Byleth gets there alongside the three House Leaders plus Ashe, Hilda and Linhardt, who stepped into them discussing the situation and were taken in for the ride. Not only do the group member find their way into the Abyss, but they meet four powerful "students" from a mysterious "fourth house" of the Academy, led by a young man named Yuri and mentored by Aelfric. They don't seem to fully trust strangers in their grounds, but they also admit that they do need help since they've been under attack of mercenaries. If said mercenaries are defeated in combat by Byleth and their allies, the Ashen Wolves are disbanded by Rhea and leave, though promising to return - but they can join Byleth's House of choice. Each Wolf can interact and support with people from one or maybe two Houses outside their own, plus Byleth themself.

All of the Wolves have Major Crests that don't belong to the clans that are mentioned and revered in history: Yuri has the Crest of Aubin, Hapi possesses the Crest of Timotheos, Balthus has the Crest of Chevalier and Constance holds the Crest of Noa. These belong to the aforementioned Four Apostles, the four heroes who tried to raise the Goddess Back From the Dead and, after their failure, disappeared from history. In the present, Aelfric wants to recreate the same Ritual of Rising - but to revive the woman he loved: Byleth's mother, Sitri. So he has gathered the descendants of the Apostles in Abyss and is getting ready to sacrifice them for his plans. . . but Yuri has caught wind of his intentions and wants to fight back to protect Abyss, his friends and himself. . .

Yuri Leclerc (JP: Uris Leclerc)

A young man who once was a Street Urchin and a powerful gangster, later was adopted by his very distant relative Count Rowe and became a student of the Academy in the Blue Lions house, but was expelled for a mysterious reason and then went to the Abyss sector. He sees the citizens of Abyss as under his protection, and has an affinity for both the Blue Lions and the Black Eagles. Has the Major Crest of Aubin, which may have been "given" to him by Aubin himself.

• A Friend in Need - Chronic Hero Syndrome - Greater Need Than Mine - Protectorate: Despite or maybe because of his crooked past and somewhat shady present, Yuri is pretty much unable to turn his back towards people in need.
• Affectionate Nickname: He starts calling Byleth "friend" immediately after meeting them.
• Ambiguous Situation: Just for how long does this guy live if he hooks up with someone? Near all his endings with ladies, including the one with Female Byleth, have him living a long yet fulfilled life (including an implied Together in Death if his lady is Constance). . . but the one with Male Byleth states that both men not only stayed together but stayed young while doing so. This can be explained by him having been saved from near death as a child by a Cool Old Guy (implied to have been the Apostle Aubin himself) who gave him what's all but shouted to have been dragon blood, but rather oddly such things are only brought up in one ending of Yuri's and Male Byleth's ending with Flayn (and she's half-Nabatean, so)...
• Badass Bisexual: The leader of the Wolves, and can romance both Byleths plus Dorothea, Ingrid, Constance, Hapi and Bernadetta. And his shared ending with Balthus strongly implies that Balthus, who's otherwise a ladies man, is all If It's You It's Okay for him.
• Babies Ever After: With Female Byleth.
• Childhood Friends: Yuri is the boy that Bernadetta befriended, but was beaten to near death under orders of her father. Can go into Childhood Friend Romance with a side-dish of First Girl After All.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: The girliest-looking boy in the whole cast. Downplayed after the Time Skip, thanks to his simpler clothes.
• Expy: A sword-wielding, fiercer-looking Leon. But only in looks, since otherwise they're nothing alike.
• Fatal Flaw: Most prominently in Cindered Shadows, but Yuri has a tendency to manipulate everyone around him, even his friends, in order to achieve his goals and his insistence on doing everything alone. It's only when he realises he can't handle everything by himself and his friends aren't going to give up on him that he finally stops being so secretive with them.
• Guile Hero: The guy can be very underhanded and even manipulative at times, but has a good heart. He's on Aelfric's plans for the second Rite of the Rising, but at the same time he's Rhea's agent to keep tabs on Aelfric himself and do all he can to stop it.
• Happily Adopted: Averted. He was taken in by Count Rowe, a very distant relative, but their relationship was pretty bad. He tells Ingrid that the only really good thing the Count did was getting him into the Academy. It's heavily implied in Three Hopes that Rowe sexually abused him.
• Hitman with a Heart: It's strongly implied that he was an assassin in the past. Confirmed: as a kid he was hired to pose as a servant of the Varleys and kill young Bernadetta due to her Crest... but he couldn't bring himself to do it. And that is when her father caught him and had him near killed, in what Yuri believes it's maybe the only Pet the Dog moment the Count ever had towards his otherwise much abused kid.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: It's also all but screamed in his supports with the Byleths and Dorothea that he used his beautiful looks and his charisma to prostitute himself to high-ranked nobles, on top of having been a gangster. Rather ironic, considering that his mother is one as well.
• Implied Love Interest: Like near all the House Leaders. He seems to like Byleth a lot regardless of their gender and their House of Choice, flirts with them quite a bit and can marry either of them, and as a plus unlike the other Leaders he can be the love interest regardless of where Byleth goes.
• The Leader: Of the Ashen Wolves. Uncommonly for house leaders, he can be recruited into other Houses alongside his companions.
• Manipulative Bastard: You don't become the leader of the underground by playing nice, after all.
• Momma's Boy: His mother is a Hooker with a Heart of Gold and he loves her deeply. Aelfric tried to use Yuri's care for his mom to his advantage via kidnapping her to force Yuri to be his right-hand.
• Neighborhood Friendly Gangsters: To the very letter, as several of his endings say that even when he stayed as a high-ranked delinquent boss, he used his power and influence to help the helpless like he did in Abyss.
• Rape as Backstory: He already was a male prostitute as a teen, but in his A support with Dorothea he mentions that the men who wanted her would "settle" for him, strongly implying that many of these encounters were not consensual.
  • In Three Hopes, an NPC on the Azure Gleam route strongly hints that Count Rowe was sexually abusing him while he was living in his household.
• Red Baron: The Savage Mockingbird, admired and feared by the Adrestian underground.
• Supreme Chef: He takes pride on his great cooking skills. Once he cooks for Ingrid, she's enamoured with his food, and if they have an A support together they become inn keepers famous for their delicious dishes.
• The Tease: He seems to be quite smitten with Byleth, and flirts with him/her even outside their supports.

Hapi

A cynical young lady who's in Abyss due to an undisclosed reason, implied to be her "unique constitution". She has an affinity for the Blue Lions, and to a smaller degree the Black Eagles. And possesses the Major Crest of Timotheos.

• Affectionate Nickname - The Nicknamer: She calls her teammates "Yuri-Bird", "B" and "Coco", and their mentor Aelfric is "Alfie". She later comes up with some for the Byleths ("Chatterbox"), Dimitri ("Didi"), Linhardt ("Linny"), Ashe ("Freckles"), Edelgard ("Eddy"), Claude ("Claudester") and Hubert ("The Bert"). Hopes adds "Cathy" (Catherine), "Shammi" (Shamir), "Iggy" (Ignatz), "Judy" (Judith), and "Bernie-bee" (Bernadetta)
• Apathetic Citizens: Described as such. Considering her past, it's hard to blame her.
• Brutal Honesty: Hapi is extremely rude and tells people exactly what she thinks of them.
• Dark-Skinned Redhead
• Dark and Troubled Past: She lived a quiet early life with her parents in a small Adrestian village (actually a Hidden Elf Village, apparently founded by Timotheos the Apostle himself), then ran away to see the world... and from ages 9 to 17, she was subjected to cruel magical experiments by the Adrestian Empire's agent Cornelia. And after she managed to leave, she was caught by the Church of Seiros and locked away in Abyss for years.
• Intergenerational Friendship: During her days as Cornelia's test subject, Hapi struck one with an older woman. That lady was Queen Patricia.
• Ironic Name: Despite her name sounding like "Happy," she's the most cynical of the four.
• Jabba Table Manners: She's very messy when she eats.
• Meaningful Name: "Hapi" is the name of two Egyptian (male) deities.
• Miss Fanservice: Her "school" Custom Uniform is the only one that exposes a girl's belly button. She also has a Dangerously-Short Skirt and Zettai Ryouiki. After the Time Skip, she wears a green dress that shows off her very large breasts and her lovely legs.
• Mysterious Past: "Something" happened to Hapi in the past, and she tries to hide it as she lives in Abyss. That "something" is having been experimented on by Cornelia, not unlike Lysithea and Edelgard, because of her very unique powers. She also was all but imprisoned by the Knights of Seiros after she was released; they promised to find her a cure and yet they never did, so she resents the fuck out of them.
• One Degree of Separation: She actually met Patricia, Edelgard's mother and Dimitri's stepmother, as a child, but never met either of them herself until Cindered Shadows several years later.
• Reluctant Warrior: She's not completely on board with the war, and especially in Crimson Flower.
• Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: With Constance.
• Summon Magic: She can summon huge monsters when she sighs. This is after having been experimented on by Cornelia and the Empire, which modified her original powers.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She and Constance.

Constance von Nuvelle

A young woman from a noble Adrestian family, House Nuvelle, that fell from grace years ago after supporting Emperor Ionius in the context of the Insurrection of the Seven and then being caught in the Dagda-Brigid war. She's determined to regain her clan's honor someday, and shares Yuri's affinity for the Black Eagles. Has the Major Crest of Noa.

• Antiquated Linguistics: Constance speaks in very elegant, Purple Prosey patterns.
• Babies Ever After: She and Ferdinand, but only in Crimson Flower. And one of their daughters is said to be as smart and magically-talented as her mother!
• Childhood Friends: With Ferdinand and Mercedes. And by extension, Jeritza aka Emile - to the point of referring to him by his actual name, showing next to no fear regarding his deep issues, and being his other potential love interest aside of Bernadetta and the Byleths.
• Childhood Friend Romance: With Ferdinand and Emile aka Jeritza
• Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: Gains those when in Shrinking Violet mode.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Being pitied and given sympathy is pretty much her Berserk Button.
• Fallen Princess - Impoverished Patrician - Princess in Rags : Ayup. The Nuvelle clan had already lost quite a bit of pull in Adrestia for siding with the Emperor and not the Insurrection, but after the Dagda-Brigid war everything went down for Constance and she ended up orphaned, traumatized, stripped out of her noblehood and everything the family possessed, and locked up in Abyss.
• Hair Decs: A blue headband
• Goal in Life: She WILL restore the Nuvelle clan! Mark her words!
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple - Purple Is Powerful: She's in a House associated with purple (and gray), handles a purple fan, has lilac streaks in her hair, is very ladylike and can be a powerful spell-caster.
• Large Ham: When indoors or outdoors in a cloudy day/during the night.
• Literal Minded: When Yuri mentions Constance would have to do a lot of boot-licking to gain the Adrestian noble's favor, she starts theorising on a spell to turn boot laces to liquorice to make the experience more palatable, apparently not realising Yuri didn't mean she should literally go around licking people's boots.
• Mood Swinger: Goes from a haughty princess to a Shrinking Violet the moment she steps outside, and the change is so steep that it strongly resembles a Split Personality. Justified, since she's spent years in the underground and the outside world can be intimidating to someone who hasn't seen it in so long. The supports with Mercedes seem to support this: Mercedes says "the sunlight brings back painful memories in you", implying it's a side-effect of the trauma that Constance has gone through in the last years. This is pretty important in her and Balthus' support chain as she is in Shrinking Violet mode throughout almost all of it, and Hilarity Ensues when she's back to her princess persona. . .
• Noblewoman's Laugh: She has this in both dubs, though the original Japanese one is louder.
• Odd Friendship: She and Hapi are very different, but get along quite well. In fact, Constance gets quite angry when some ladies are bitchy towards Hapi for her poor manners and lack of noblehood..
• The Ojou: Looks very ladylike and princessy, and even has Princess Curls with lilac stripes. With her haughty attitude, she might be one of the straightest Type 2 in the whole franchise!
• Plucky Girl: Mostly when indoors, but still.
• Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: With Mercedes and Hapi.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl - Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: Is this towards Yuri. Until he turns the tables on her.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Like Ferdinand she speaks in a very formal, proper way, probably overcompensating her tenuous status as a noble by exaggerating her speech.
• Shrinking Violet: Constance is bold, plucky and princessy when indoors. . . but when she goes outdoors, she's much more like this. It even reflects on her Time Skip design and portrait, plus her Personal Skill that raises her Defense when outside and her Attack when inside.
• The Smart Guy: Constance may be hammy but she's not stupid. Yuri has to work his ass off to stay one step ahead of her during the Ashen Wolves storyline because she keeps nearly figuring things out.
• True-Blue Femininity: Aside of all the purple and grey in her clothes, she has Innocent Blue Eyes and both her headband and a scarf are blue as well.
• Well Excuse Me, Princess!: This is her and Yuri's support chain in a nutshell, though Yuri admits he comes to find Constance's high energy endearing.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Rips her former childhood friend Ferdinand a new one for the fact that his family didn't aid hers when they fell from grace.
  • She gives a softer one to her other former childhood friend Jeritza for not staying in contact with her and, more importantly, not telling her about the horrible messes in House Bartels that led to Mercedes being spirited away.
  • She also is not happy at Edelgard over what happened to her family, even when she doesn't blame her personally for it.

Balthus von Albrecht (JP: Baltazar von Adalbrecht)

The oldest and most fight-happy of the Wolves, a warrior from Leicester once known as "the King of Grappling" and who's best friends with Hilda's older brother, General Holst Goneril. His unruly behavior (and massive debts) got him branded as a fugitive, however, and he found solace in Abyss. He has an affinity for the Golden Deer, of course. And he has the Major Crest of Chevalier.

• Affectionate Nickname: Hilda refers to him as "Baltie."
  • He calls Lysithea "little lady,"
• Bash Brothers: With Yuri. He also was this with Holst in the past.
• Because You Were Nice to Me - I Owe You My Life: Since Balthus was saved by the Abyss people during his Darkest Hour, he is fiercely devoted to their protection.
  • He also believes this regarding Lysithea's parents, who helped him escape from his Leicester enemies even when they already were "hostages" of the Adrestian Empire. In fact, at the end of his supports with Lysithea he all but proposes to her to repay the kindness of the Ordelias to him.
• Best Friends-In-Law: If you complete Hilda and Balthus' support chain, he ends up going to House Goneril to ask Holst permission to marry Hilda by beating him in a duel.
• The Big Guy: Is the tallest of the four Wolves, poses with a huge axe in his official art and uses it as his Weapon of Choice in Heroes, is seen using gauntlets in the trailer, and his starting class (War Monk) uses gauntlets too.
• Big Brother Instinct: Towards Hilda, and especially since in the past Holst asked him to look after her.
• Big Screwed-Up Family: The Albrecht clan is... troubled. Balthus' mother is not a noble but a woman from the Kupala region whom Lord Albrecht saved and then married. The lady was endlessly harassed by his father's clansmen due to this; she ultimately had to go back to Kupala, a then-young Balthus had to stay due to being the heir, and the Lord had to marry a "more fitting" noblewoman who really disliked Balthus himself (even when Balthus and his younger half-brother got along well). Later, the teenage Balthus was revealed to have the Crest of Chevalier when he took the exam for the Academy, which led to him having to step down as the heir since it'd reveal his status as the holder of a Crest that wasn't supposed to exist any longer. Then the Lord's second wife fully revealed herself as a Wicked Stepmother, Balthus' own attitude and debts didn't help matters, and he ultimately went out on the run. . .
• Boisterous Bruiser: Oh yes.
• Bromance: With Yuri and Holst. The second one can go into Best Friends-in-Law if Balthus' chosen girlfriend is Hilda.
• Childhood Friends: Him and Hilda. Can go into a mix of Walking the Earth and Childhood Friend Romance if the whole support chain's followed.
• Engagement Challenge: In his A support with Hilda, she realizes that less guys have been flirting with her lately - and it turns out that Balthus has been telling any dudes interested in her that if they want to date Hilda, they must defeat him first. The two more or less conclude that at such a rate only Bathus and Holst will be strong enough to complete such a "task", and that Balthus will end up knocking himself out to ask for Hilda's hand in marriage. Fittingly, their shared ending stats that Balthus had to defeat Holst before he and Hilda could take off to explore the continent.
• Fallen Prince: Originally from a minor Leicester noble clan, now he's a fugitive.
• The Gambling Addict: To the point that one of the main reasons he's in Abyss is the absolutely gigantic piles of gambling debts he has.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Is this with almost any girl he supports with, but especially Lysithea.
• Hunk: Very big, very muscled, very handsome.
• Likes Older Women: Oh, yes. Goes into Stacy's Mom territory with his lingering hots for Claude's mother Tiana. Ironically, he can't support with Manuela, the oldest member of the playable female cast.
• May-December Romance: One of his romance options is Lysithea, who's not only really tiny but is 12 years his junior.
• Mr. Fanservice: Walks around with no shirt on under his jacket, showing off his VERY nice body.
• My Fist Forgives You: In Cindered Shadows, once Yuri comes clean about what was going on between him and Aelfric, Balthus tells Yuri he forgives him and then punches him in the face.
• Rated "M" for Manly: Oh YES.
• Rescue Romance: When Balthus was a teen and Hilda was a little girl, the two and Holst were ambushed by a monster. Holst told Balthus to take Hilda to safety, he did so... and then he went back and helped Holst kill the monster. In his and Hilda's B support, he also helps her fend off some attacks because, years ago, Holst specifically asked him to take care of her. So if they hook up, they more or less count as this.
• Older Than They Look: He starts the game at age 27!
• Secret Keeper: He figures out Claude's whole parentage pretty much on his own and confronts him on it, but decides to keep it to himself.
  • Used a bit more comically in his C support with Lysithea, when he catches her eating sweets.
• Smarter Than You Look: Balthus may at times look like he's just Dumb Muscle, but he's actually quite insightful and with quite a bit of Street Smarts. (Even if he claims that thinking too much gives him a headache)
• Walking the Earth: If he hooks up with Hilda, they do this in their shared ending. He has to defeat Holst first, however.
  • He also does this with Female Byleth (only in Crimson Flower) and Hapi, as in the first case they travel together too and in the second one they become famed mercenaries.

Church of Seiros

Th main religious authority in the whole Fódlan, whose leadership resides in the neutral territory where the Garreg Mach Monastery and the Officers Academy are. They're supposed to keep the peace between the three main nations and their allies, though at times they seem to have their own plans and intentions. The Knights of Seiros are under their orders.

If the player follows certain conditions, they can unlock the Silver Snow route. It's all about the Church and the Knights, plus how they deal with the war, and especially the Adrestian Empire's takeover of Fódlan; as a plus, the Black Eagles students automatically join their case rather than the Empire's.

Rhea

The beautiful and kind, yet also extremely ruthless Archbishop of the Church of Seiros, and the holder of the Major Crest of Seiros. She can help the Byleths increase their rank at four subjects: Brawling, Lances, Swords and Faith.

Rhea is actually the heroine Seiros herself, who completely lost it after the murders of the Goddess aka her mother (Sothis' past self) and near all of her siblings and relatives the Nabatea. They were murdered by Those Who Slither In the Dark, who once were their allies the Agarthans but turned on them; they also used their corpses to create the Crests and the Heroic Relics. Driven mad with grief and anger, Seiros allied herself with the Four Saints (her surviving relatives Indech, Cichol and Maculi, plus Cichol's daughter Cethleann) and the first Emperor of Adrestia (Wilhelm I), waging the War of the Heroes and killing Nemesis (the one who killed the Goddess under orders), among many other consequences. Then she created the Church of Seiros and its allied institutions, changed her name to Rhea, rewrote history to hide as much as possible of the whole tragedy, and started seeking ways to bring her mother back...

Her Seiros tropes have their own section below.

• Abdicate the Throne: In some routes. Specifically, in Azure Moon (no matter what) and Silver Snow (if she isn't Byleth's Love Interest)
• Anti-Hero <- -> Anti-Villain: Whether she's one or another, it will SERIOUSLY depend on which path is chosen. She tends to be the first in almost all routes because despite being a kind person, she committed severe mistakes through her life and leadership that led to the terrible situation the countries are in; and she's the second trope in Crimson Flower/Black Eagles since she has gone the Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds path again and is lashing out in absolute anger and despair over Edelgard and Byleth unintentionally re-traumatizing her to a breaking point.
• Baby Got Back - Hartman Hips: Her official artwork and some of her models show that Rhea has a lovely butt and very ample hips. This has made her a bit of a Memetic Sex Goddess in some parts of the fandom.
• Bi the Way: Rhea can only be romanced by Byleth. And this means she can fall for either of them.
• Broken Bird: She looks wise, calm and gentle, but she has led an incredibly cruel life full of losses and heartbreak. Losing her mother the Goddess and near all of her fellow Nabateans in the worst way possible can do this to a heroine.
• Climax Boss: Twice, for players who choose the Black Eagles.
• Dissonant Serenity: Near all the time
• Falling Into His Arms: The Byleths catch her like this at the end of Silver Snow, when as the Immaculate One, she returns to her human form. It will more often than not overlap with Died in Your Arms Tonight, unless Byleth has enough support levels with her.
• Fatal Flaw: This woman has a good heart, but her personality flaws are extremely severe.
  • She either lies or tells half-truths. Almost all the goddamn time. This causes people to NOT trust her, as seen when she did not tell Aelfric and Jeralt everything surrounding Sitri's death, causing them to lose faith in her.. And Edelgard, who has QUITE the reasons to distrust the Church as a whole, sees her as extremely shady and eventually leads the Adrestian empire against the Church itself to remove her influence..The backstory takes this to a whole new level when one of her first actions as Rhea the Archbishop is rewriting the early history of Fódlan to suit her needs.
  • She has a bad, BAD case of Black and White Morality, mixed with Control Freak tendences. If someone with some degree of influence rebels against her and/or refuses to go along with her, she will NOT take it well. Especially seen when Byleth chooses Edelgard and Adrestia over her and the Church, which leads Rhea to fucking lose it from then on. Even something as seemingly small as refusing to give her the Lance of Ruin will make her angry! Though this is later justified when one learns that the Hero's Relics are the flesh and bones of her slaughtered family. Additionally, Rhea tends to regard any enemy of hers as pretty much wholly evil, dismissing any sympathetic traits they may have.
  • She's so disconnected from other people, including the few loved ones she still has left, that she literally cannot trust anyone with her deep issues and the heartbreak she's carried in her soul. This has led her not just to be incredibly lonely, but to lack "second opinions" when she truly needs it.
• Final Boss: In Crimson Flower and Silver Snow, as The Immaculate One alias her Dragon form. Subverted in the second one: she can be fought and redeemed, but only in certain circumstances.
• Implied Love Interest: Of the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes. To the point that to save her life one must have at very least an A support with her, and her only happy ending (and solely in Silver Snow) will take place with her married to either Byleth..
• Lonely At the Top - The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask: And how. Due to her past trauma and her Archbishop position, the lady has next to no close friends.
• Parental Substitute: To Cyril, and in the past to Byleth's mother Sitri. The second case is more complicated: she created Sitri in a way, as an Artificial Human supposed to serve as a vessel for a revived Goddess/Sothis. Though she still came to love Sitri like a daughter.
• Picky Eater: She doesn't like hot beverages.
• Shipper on Deck: In some of Catherine's paired endings, if she survives due to having at least an A support with Byleth, Rhea will encourage Catherine to accept her guy's proposal.

Seteth

A handsome, serious man who is the right-hand of Rhea in the Church, and holds the major Crest of Cichol. He offers lessons in Lances and Authority in the Academy, and is quite protective of his younger sister Flayn.

He is actually Cichol (one of the Nabateans, and a relative of Seiros) himself, while his "sister" Flayn is his daughter Cethleann.

• Ascended Extra: In Silver Snow, since Rhea goes missing (actually, she's captured by the Empire) and therefore he keeps the Church alive while also being Byleth's Number Two.
• Big No: Should Flayn die in battle before Seteth, he does an agonised version of this.
• Defrosting Ice King: He begins as quite distrustful of Byleth, who was hired as a professor without his consultation. But when they're vital in the rescue of his little sister Flayn, he begins warming up to them.
• Dragon Rider: His starting class.
• Friend to All Children: He gets along well with kids, surely coming from him raising his little sister (or better said, his daughter) on his own.
• Happily Married: To his first wife, mentioning in his and Flayn's paralogue that he still visits her grave once a year and still takes up fishing because of her.
• Heroic Build: Seteth's art in Fire Emblem Heroes shows he is absolutely ripped under that uniform.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Seteth isn't exactly a "jerk", just harsh and strict, but he's not wrong it's suspicious that Rhea hired Byleth, a mercenary with no teaching experience, to be an instructor at Garrag Mach and that she seems to be hiding something. It's just he tends to vent his frustrations on Byleth, not Rhea.
• The Lost Lenore: He once had a wife, but she passed away. More exactly: she was not just his wife, but Flayn's mother. It's all but stated that she was killed in the War against Nemesis.
• Number Two - Reasonable Authority Figure: Is more or less this in the Church, following the lead of Rhea. Post-timeskip he's basically this to Byleth in every route by Crimson Flower by helping with the restoration of Garrag Mach.
• Overprotective Dad: Despite being Flayn's brother, he fits this role to a T. Justified in that he actually is her father and that during the war, she was severely injured and almost died.
• Promotion to Parent: He's a handsome man who seems to be in his 30's/40's, and he's taking care of his teenage younger sister... Subverted: they're father and daughter, but they pose as siblings to hide their Heroic Lineages.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: With some of his potential girlfriends, like Manuela and Catherine.
• Second Love: Any woman that he romances through supports will be this.
• Stern Teacher: His role among the Academy teachers.
• Team Dad: He tends to take up the role whenever he's recruited. It certainly helps that he's been raising Flayn for quite a while already.
• What The Hell, Hero?: He calls out Rhea for hiding so many secrets from him despite their long history together, but unfortunately Rhea still doesn't let him in one as much as she should.

Flayn

Seteth's younger sister and ward, who isn't a student but still hangs around the Monastery and the Academy (and wants to attend the latter one day). She has the Major Crest of Cethleann, and is a very talented healer and mage.

Just like Seteth is Cichol, Flayn is actually his daughter Cethleann. Her human mother was killed in the War of the Heroes, and Cethleann herself had to spend years in a dormant state to recover from her injuries. As such, she is more naive than many would think and is unaware of her relative Seiros/Rhea's true motives.

• All-Loving Heroine: Flayn is a kind, gentle, forgiving soul.
• Antiquated Linguistics: She's very proper and formal-sounding, odd for such a young girl...
• But He Sounds Handsome: She loves it whenever people talk about Saint Cethleann, since Flayn is her descendent. Or rather, she IS Cethleann and can't resist being complimented. In fact, this is how Linhardt figures out her real identity.
• Blow You Away: Many of her better spells are wind-based ones.
• Cloudcuckoolander: She at times has very... special thoughts.
• Convenient Coma: When younger, Flayn spent some time in one. One than actually lasted for centuries, since she was gravely injured in the war against Nemesis.
• Curious as a Monkey: This young lady is very inquisitive and curious, much to her older brother's dismay.
• Distress Ball: At some point she's kidnapped, and the whole Academy must team-work to find her.
• Kiddie Kid: She's said to be 17 years old according to the game data, but she looks and acts somewhat younger. She's actually much older, however...
• Lethal Chef: Her cooking is, well, BAD. Unless she marries the Supreme Chef Dedue.
• Literal Minded: In her supports with Sylvain, she makes him talk to her while standing at a distance from her, explaining that Seteth told her to stay away from him.
• Plucky Girl: She's soft-spoken and gentle, but also VERY set on her ideas.
• Secret Identity: Seteth says that he keeps Flayn hidden in the Monastery and Academy because some people want to harm her. It seems word has spread about her being the Half-Human Hybrid Cethleann (daughter of a Nabatean man and a human woman), which makes her a HUGE target due to her capacity to produce Crests.
• White Mage: One of her biggest fortes. This should be no surprise: Cethleann was known as a powerful healer, and she IS Cethleann...
• Will Not Be a Victim: After she's rescued, Flayn refuses to go into hiding with Seteth and takers the chance to join the Academy, even if not officially.

Aelfric Daehlman (JP: Alphard)

A Cardinal from the Church of Seiros who's the link between said Church and the Abyss citizens, and has a minor Crest of Seiros. He's the creator of the Ashen Wolves House, and even when he's not exactly their House Leader (that's Yuri) he looks over them and does his best to help them too.

• All-Loving Hero - Good Shepherd: He earned the love and respect of the Abyss people by the sheer power of his kindness, which they badly needed for having been shunned by everyone else. He is. . . not half as good as he seems, however. Though not actually evil, however.
• Big Good - Reasonable Authority Figure: Does his best to keep order and harmony among the Abyss. Actually, the Anti-Villainous Big Bad: he truly cares for the Abysseans, but he's gone the Love Makes You Crazy ways.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: A flashback to his youth shows him with short hair.
• Love Triangle: He knew Byleth's parents, and was in love with Sitri alias the lady who'd become Byleth's mom. He was in good terms with Jeralt, however, and eagerly accepted that the woman he loved preferred him. His goal, however, is to revive her. . ..
• Meaningful Name: It's NOT a coincidence that a member of the Church of Seiros shares his name with many well-known Anglo-Saxon religious men.

Officers Academy Staff and Teachers

The people in charge of the Officers Academy itself, working under the Church of Seiros' instructions and teaching the students. They can be officially recruited into Byleth's cause, and save for Jeritza they'll follow him/her in the Silver Snow one automatically.

Jeritza von Hrymn

One of the teachers at the Academy, a very mysterious young man who wears a mask all the time and is a fencing instructor. He has a minor crest of Lamine. Initially, he was not recruitable at all - a free DLC makes him playable, but solely in the Crimson Flower path.

He is actually the Death Knight, an ally of Those Who... and Edelgard. As a plus, he is also Mercedes' half-brother Emile von Bartels, adopted into another House after the MESSY end of the Bartels house. His tropes as the Death Knight will be listed in their own section.

• Beneath the Mask: Played around. He's seen with his half-mask all the time in the first half, and when he stops being an opponent and joins the cast in Crimson Flower, he's maskless onwards. And the secrets of his past can be unveiled.
• Bi the Way: Can fall in love with either Byleth, Bernadetta (huh...), or Constance..
• Childhood Friend Romance: If he marries Constance.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Uhm. Oh... boy... As Emile von Bartels, he was very well-loved by his older half-sister Mercedes and his mother (a member of the Martritz clan), but was saddled with a cruel father who cared much more about Crests and bloodlines than anyone else and relatives that mistreated him as well. He stayed behind with the Bartel clan as a way to protect Mercedes and their mom when they were sent away, fearing that if he went with them he'd make them targets of the Baron's fury... but when some time later he found out that Baron Martels intended to reclaim Mercedes and forcibly marry her to have more children with Crests, he snapped and murdered his evil father, then pretty much killed everyone in House Bartels. The horrible trauma is all but shouted to be what caused him to develop a Split Personality - none other than the Death Knight.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: If one completes Jeritza's supports with Mercedes, after the war he's imprisoned in Enbarr but is ultimately reunited with her. If he supports with either Byleth, they become an amazing Battle Couple that helps Edelgard decimate "Those..." and then they disappear together. If he supports with Bernadetta, he first throws 'self down in the Those... fight and then goes to her home to visit her. And if he supports with his childhood friend Constance, they first help eliminate "Those..." and later they get Happily Married.. Love Redeems won't heal everything, but it DOES help a lot.
• I Owe You My Life: To Edelgard
• Interplay of Sex and Violence: If he supports with either of the Byleths, his dialogue with either of them ooozes this.
• The Mentally Ill: This man has what's known as Dissociative Identity Disorder alias Split Personality, born from the horrifying trauma he went through when young.
• Morality Pet: Mercedes and their mother (Lady von Martritz)
• Odd Couple: Him and Bernadetta.
• Promoted to Playable: He initially was the only Academy Teacher who cannot be recruited due to him being the Death Knight, a (free) DLC makes him a full member of the cast (though solely in one route: Crimson Flower aka Black Eagles). And it doubles as Promoted to Love Interest, as he can be romanced by either of the Byleths (and without Bait and Switch Bisexuals!)
• Spanner in the Works: To his father's plan to reclaim Mercedes, marry her, and force her to pop out Crest babies for him. Emile murdered the man and the rest of House Bartels in a rage before the baron could even take the first step.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In Three Houses, he's a mandatory kill outside of Crimson Flower. In Three Hopes, he survives all three routes: on Scarlet Blaze he's an automatic party member, in Azure Gleam he can be recruited by his Morality Pet Mercedes, and on Golden Wildfire he appears as an NPC to persuade Mercedes over to the Federation's side.
• Strong Family Resemblance: When unmasked, it's seen that he looks a LOT like a genderflipped Mercedes, confirming that they're brother and sister.
• Sweet Tooth: Who would say that Jeritza loves ice-cream and sweets? It's implied to be a bit of a Comfort Food deal, since Mrs. von Martritz and Mercedes specialize in sweet dishes.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: While not exactly funny, his Love Confession to the Byleths may be the most... extravagant and of all. And considering it takes placer in Shambhala aka the stronghold of the Slithers, and as he and Byleth fight the remnants of said Slithers, it's also incredibly badass
• Walking Spoiler: And how.
• What Is This Thing You Call Love?: He all but shouts it if romanced by Byleth.
• Worthy Opponent: He sees Byleth as this.
• You Are Worth Hell: He tells that to Byleth in his Love Confession.

Manuela Casagranda

Once the most beautiful and talented singer of the Mittelfrank Opera Company, known as the "Divine Songstress" and greatly admired by Dorothea, Manuela teaches Swords and Faith at the Academy. She's a rather immature woman in private, especially regarding her heavy drinking and anxiety over not having a husband, but is also a competent healer and a kind person.

• Ambiguously Bi: She can't romance Female Byleth (and even lampshades it in a way), but her ending with her once-protegée Dorothea is quite romantic-sounding. (And arguably, her CF ending with Edelgard too)
• Babies Ever After: If she marries Male Byleth or Ferdinand.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Hanneman, if one pursues their supports.
• Christmas Cake: A Running Gag involves her complaining about her anxiety over being unmarried. She even introduces herself as being "avaliable"!
• Dub Name Change: In the Spanish versions of the game, the text will change her name from Manuela to Miguela. Apparently this is because in some Spanish speraking countries "Manuela" can be used as slang for masturbation.
• Foil: To Hanneman. He's logical, she's emotional. He's uptight, she's more free-spirited. He's a Neat Freak, she's very messy. He's barely able to boil water, she's an excellent cook.
• Friend to All Children: Manuela not only is an excellent teacher, but she's very compassionate to kids and teens. She spearheads the investigation of Flayn's kidnapping, plus several of her endings have her leaving the Academy and becoming a teacher in war-torn lands.
• Functional Addict: She's alcoholic, but also a very good singer and a just as good teacher and nurse.
• Hangover Sensitivity: Comes up in several of her supports.
• Hot Teacher - Miss Fanservice: She may not be as youthful as other cast ladies, but she is very pretty.
• The Ladette: She looks dainty and ladylike, but has very slovenly habits and is a VERY heavy drinker.
• May-December Romance: Her and Hanneman's supports state that she's 34 in the first part of the game. So if she's romanced by Ferdinand or Lorenz (both in their late teens at the first phase) or a male Byleth (in his very early 20's by that time), this happens. Hanneman himself counts as well, since he's 51 when the game begins.
• School Nurse: The closest to this in the Academy.
• Supreme Chef: Among the teachers
• White Mage: Manuela is not the best attack unit, but damn she's useful as a support one thanks to her healing spells and Warp.

Hanneman von Essar

Once an Adrestian noble, Hanemann left the Empire over cruel incidents in his past and chose to lend his knowledge to the Academy, where he teaches Riding, Archery and Reason. He's a talented scholar with a keen interest in the crests and a turbulent relationship with his co-worker Manuela. Has a minor crest of Indech.

• Big Damn Heroes: Pulls this in Manuela and Dorothea's paralogue in Three Hopes's Scarlet Blaze path, specifically towards Manuela.
• Defector From Decadence: He left the Empire because the Adrestian society's obsession with Crests led to her Ill Girl younger sister being trapped into a very abusive Arranged Marriage where her husband used her as a Baby Factory, leading to her death.
• Demoted to Extra: Is downgraded to NPC in Three Hopes.
• Foil: As said above, he and Manuela. To no one's surprise, they can fall in love.
• Gentleman and a Scholar: Oh, yeah.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Starting the game at age 51, he can forge this with Annette (17), Marianne (ditto) or Lysithea (15)
• Lethal Chef: He admits it if chosen as a "companion" in Cooking Duty, and will eventually step aside.
• May-December Romance: He can romance a Female Byleth (starts at 21), Edelgard (starts at 18), Dorothea (ditto) and Manuela (starts at 34)
• Silver Fox: A very good-looking older man.

Cyril

An orphaned boy who was first a servant to House Goneril and then to Rhea, and now works for the Church of Seiros.

• Demoted to Extra: He's relegated to an NPC on the Azure Gleam route.
• Brutal Honesty: Cyril doesn't mince words, such as calling Manuela out for her drinking habits of Hilda for her laziness.
• Little Mister Snarker: He has a pretty sharp tongue towards almost everyone but his beloved Lady Rhea.
• Never Learned to Read: He never really had the chance to go to school due to his orphanhood and then having to work as a servant. It comes up strongly in his supports with Lysithea.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Rhea.

Tomas

An old librarian for the Academy, who's been there for decades. As the game begins, he has just come back from an 8-year trip through the continent. He is actually Solon from Those Who Slither... More exactly, it's all but stated that there WAS a real Tomas who worked in the library itself, but was subjected to Kill and Replace by Solon in his trip.

Knights of Seiros

A group of knights that also follows the instructions of the Church itself, which sends them in different missions that require military intervention. Jeralt used to be their top member until he decided to break off on his own, returning to the group when Byleth became an instructor in the Officers Academy.

Jeralt Eisner

Byleth's father, also the most powerful knight in the whole Fódlan. He was in service of the Knight of Seiros for years, but after the death of his wife/Byleth's mother Sitri he left to found his own mercenary company, which was very succesful; he also raised Byleth as well as he could. After Byleth's discovered and hired by the Academy, Jeralt returns to the Knights to keep an eye on his child as much as possible in between missions. He also has a Major Crest of Seiros, which he adquired in the past and in quite mysterious ways.

• The Ace: Total badass. Excellent leader. Once loving husband and still in love with his late lady Sitri. Great father...
• The Alcoholic: One of Jeralt's few flaws is that he's a HEAVY drinker. And that he rarely pays for his drinks.
• Disappeared Dad: Averted, he did the major part of Byleth's raising in all senses. And very well, one might add. Sadly played straight later, when he's murdered.
• Emergency Transformation: In a way. He once was hired as Rhea's bodyguard, and ended up severely injured protecting her. Rhea gave him a blood transfusion to save his life, which gave him access to the Major Crest of Seiros AND extended his lifespan greatly.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: A picture of him and Sitri has him with slightly longer hair.
• Hot Dad: In a rather rough way.
• The Mentor: Not just to Byleth, but to Leonie and Alois.
• Papa Wolf: For Byleth, there's nothing he wouldn't do. In fact, after Sitri's Death by Childbirth / Heroic Sacrifice, Jeralt immediately noticed that something had happened to his infant child, and that his boss Rhea had something to do with it. His response was to stage a fire, fake baby!Byleth's death and run the FUCK away of the Church under the guise of founding his own mercenary company.
• Older Than He Looks: The data files state that physically speaking he's 45, but in reality he's even older than that. More exactly, this is due to how he got his Crest: via "inheriting" it from Rhea, when she gave him a blood transfusion to save his life. He's actually more than 100 years old! (And probably was 45 when the incident with Rhea happened)
• Spared by the Adaptation: In Three Hopes...but only and if only if the player does things just right on certain chapters. Easier said than done, of course.

Shamir Nevrand

A blunt and straightforward woman who's also a gifted archer. She works as part of the Knights of Seiros to thank Rhea for taking her in, and teaches Lances and Bows.

• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl
• The Archer - Blade on a Stick: Her main weapons
• Boobs of Steel: She's a physically strong mercenary who's survived lots of battles, and her boobs almost spill out of her top.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Shamir is from a place named Dagda... which was razed in a war against the Kingdom of Brigid. Shamir, who already was a mercenary back then, lost pretty much everything there - including her First Love, her companions, etc. She wandered through Fódlan until Rhea took her in.
• Lady of War
• Romantic Two-Girl Friendship <- -> Vitriolic Best Buds: She and Catherine
• Undying Loyalty: Subverted - she's pretty loyal to Rhea, but unlike Catherine she can be poached away even in Crimson Flower.

Catherine

Another instructor and knight of Seiros, who teaches Brawling and Swords and is Shamir's close friend and partner. She has a major crest of Charon, and used to live in Faerghus as Cassandra Reubens Charon aka the daughter and heiress of the Charon clan but later was taken in by Rhea and the Church.

• Brutal Honesty: This woman does not mince words at all.
• Cool Big Sis: Gives these airs when interacting with younger people, like Lysithea or Ingrid.
• Dark-Skinned Blond
• Fallen Princess: She once was Cassandra Reubens Charon, the heiress to the House of Charon. After she was said to be involved in the Tragedy of Duscur (she wasn't), Cassandra renamed herself as Catherine and ran away to the Monastery, pledging herself to Rhea who took her in.
• Hate at First Sight: In Crimson Flower, she tells the Byleths that she disliked them ever since the beginning. Downplayed as a whole in the game, since this only comes up in the CF path and can easily be seen as her trying too hard to see them as evil.
• Knight in Sour Armor: She's quite aware of how War Is Hell, and at times rather bitter about it.
• My Greatest Failure: Aside of the deals depicted above, she's not happy about capturing Lonato's son/Ashe's older brother Christophe, who was her best friend in the Academy, for being supposedly involved in the Tragedy of Duscur (he actually was involved in a plot to kill Rhea) and bringing him to justice, which cleared her own name regarding Duscur but got him executed.
• Red Baron: Thunder Catherine.
• Romantic Two-Girl Friendship - Vitriolic Best Buds: She and Shamir
• Undying Loyalty: To Rhea, who not only took her in when she "fell" but personally saved her when she was a student at the Monastery.. While she IS conflicted about many of her actions, in the end she'll stand by her even if she doesn't want to.

Alois Rangeld

Once an orphan taken in by the Church of Seiros, Alois is among the leaders of the Knights and Jeralt's once-squire. He's the one who came up with the idea of employing Byleth as an instructor at the Academy, where he offers lessons in Brawling and Axes.

• An Axe to Grind: His preferred weapon
• Badass Beard: A pretty nice one.
• Bait and Switch Bisexuals: He can have an S-Support with either of the Byleths... but both are platonic, actually. This is because he is already Happily Married.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Quite a bit!
• Big Brother Mentor - Cool Uncle: Tries to be one to Byleth, as the ex-right hand of his/her father. Goes a bit more into Parental Substitute after Jeralt's murder.
• Call to Agriculture: In some of his endings.
• Demoted to Extra: In Three Hopes, he's downgraded to an NPC.
• Disappointed in You: Big, BIG time if Byleth chooses to ally themself with Edelgard and the Black Eagles. Unless they managed to recruit him, that is.
• The Heart - Nice Guy: Alois' kindness and cheerfulness make people feel at ease with him.
• Locked Out of the Loop: He does NOT know why his once-mentor Jeralt left the Knights of Seiros.
• Running Gag: He always tries to make jokes... but only Dimitri finds them funny. And it's because they're THAT bad.
• Sad Clown: A good part of his apparently cheerful behavior and pun slinging are part of his coping mechanisms.
• Self-Made Man: He was born a commoner and then orphaned, was taken in by Jeralt as his squire when he was 11, became a Knight of Seiros at age 24...
• Undying Loyalty: To Jeralt
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: G H O S T S.

Gilbert Pronislav

A quiet Knight of Seiros who offers lessons in Lances and Axes. He once was a knight in Faerghus (under his actual name, Gustav Dominic) but left everything to dedicate himself to his mission, at the high cost of leaving his family and especially his daughter, Annette from the Blue Lions.

• The Atoner: He tries to be this after the Tragedy of Duscur via leaving House Dominic to join the Knights of Seiros, even renouncing to his family as a whole. Problem is, he's suffered horribly for it (not that he ever lets it show) and the same goes to his loved ones (younger brother and successor, wife, daughter).
• Bait and Switch Bisexuals: He can also have an S-Support with either of the Byleths... but again, both are platonic. This is because he is Annette's dad and Annette's mother is still alive in Faerghus.
• Demoted to Extra: In Three Hopes on the Azure Gleam route.
• Disappeared Dad: Had to leave his beloved family, including his daughter Annette. She naturally isn't happy about it and tries to seek him out, though if they get supports they can rekindle their broken relationship.
• Hot Dad: Older than usual (he's in his 50's), but still quite nice-looking.
• Humble Hero: He never boasts about his accomplishments, and doesn't really like it when others talk about them as seen in his supports with Ashe.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Can forge this with Dedue.
• Letting His Hair Down: Gilbert actually has shoulder-length hair, and lets it loose in his S-Support with either Byleth.
• My Greatest Failure: The whole Tragedy of Duscur deal. Especially the trauma that poor Dimitri suffered over it, which led him to crack.
• Parents as People: There's no doubt that he loves Annette, and they were very close until the Tragedy, but due to his horrible guilt after said incident, he's distanced himself from her to not hurt her with his mere presence.
• Put on a Bus: In the Verdant Wind/Golden Deer route, he pretty much vanishes. It's only known that he retrieved Dimitri's lifeless body after he was killed by Adrestian soldiers.
  • Bus Crash: In Silver Snow, Annette tells Byleth that he was one of the casualties during the skipped Gronder Field battle.

Those Who Slither in the Dark

The biggest antagonists of the story, the enemies of the Church of Seiros. Led by Thales and with a main base in a place named Shambhala, they aim to conquer the world of Fódlan no matter what. The Flame Emperor and the Death Knight are their allies, though they also seem to have their own plans. . .

They're the descendants of the Agartha, who used to coexist with the Nabateans alias the Children of the Goddess. They became very technologically advanced (enough to develop techs akin to the modern world's), but also became greedy, war-happy and cruel, defying the Goddess herself: as such, the Nabateans led by the Goddess' Action Girl daughter Seiros took the challenge and won, wiping them out at the cost of having the Goddess forced to use her powers to revive the damaged continent and fall into a deep slumber in her Holy Tomb in Zanado.

The few Agarthans who lived through became the ancestors of Those Who Slither..., and they wanted revenge. Centuries later, they contacted the powerful bandit Nemesis and his allies (the soon-to-be Ten Elites), giving them the mission of killing the Goddess plus her children, in exchange for pretty much infinite power. When that was done, Those... used her blood to give Nemesis the Crest of Flames, her bones to make the Sword of the Creator, and her heart to make a Crest stone. The other bandits/Elites who the Nabatheans' blood to get their crests, and their Heroes Relics were made of their bones; still, some of them were "late to the party" and didn't know where said Crests and Relics came from until later.

After karma caught up with Nemesis and Co. and Those... in the form of the War of the Heroes (which had Seiros, the last surviving child of the Goddess, as its leader), Those... apparently laid low until the events of the game begin. By that time they had already infiltrated the Church (via Tomas/Solon), the Adrestian nobility (via Arundel/Thales), the Faerghus court (via Cornelia/whoever replaced her), and then the Academy (via Monica/Kronya); also, they had conducted horrible experiments on humans to either artificially give them crests (like Edelgard, Lysithea and their siblings) or just to test their own powers (like the people of Remire Village)

Thales

The leader of the group. A cold, calculating man with a gift for fighting and manipulation. His secret identity is Lord Volkhard von Arundel, Edelgard's maternal uncle and the leader of the Insurrection of the Seven. Years ago, he killed Arundel and posed as him afterwards.

Kronya

A cruel hitwoman from the group. Her secret identity is Monica von Ochs, a noble girl from the Black Eagles who went missing a year ago and was found with Flayn after the latter's kidnapping. Again, Kronya killed Monica to take her place.

• Asshole Victim: After seeing her true colors, it's hard to feel even an ounce of pity for her when Solon kills her, unsettling as her death may be.
• Faux Action Girl: Very rare antagonist example, since her stats are notoriously low for a boss and not only she can be defeated easily, but she ends up used as an Human Sacrifice by Thales
• Hate Sink: Has pretty much no redeeming qualities in any sense. She's not an intriguing villain, she shows no remorse, and she's not even good in battle.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: The above extends to in-universe, where even her own comrades don't like her. The Flame Emperor finds her annoying, and Solon only rescues her so he can use her for a Human Sacrifice later.
• Hero-Killer: She murders Byleth's father Jeralt
• Stripperiffic: She wears a leotard that shows off insanely deep cleavage, underboob, sideboob, her midriff AND her butt. Somehow she still counts as fully clothed.
• Villainous Harlequin: Oh, yeah.

Solon

A cunning, scheming mage from the group. His secret identity is Tomas the librarian; he killed the old man to take his place.

• Irony: If certain conditions are fulfilled, the possessed Shez will corner him and rip his heart from his chest in a sacrifice to open up Zaharas...exactly the way Solon himself killed Kronya in Three Houses.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: If Byleth and Jeralt are not recruited and the player doesn't unlock the secret chapters, Solon disappears from the story entirely.

Historical Figures

Nemesis

Once among the first sovereigns of Fódlan, he was known as the King of Liberation who wielded the Sword of the Creator that Byleth now possesses - which was a gift from the Goddess herself. However, he fell to darkness and had to be put down by the heroine Seiros and her companions in the War of the Heroes; his death paved the foundation of Adrestia and then Fódlan itself.

In reality, Nemesis was a hitman and thief that the Agarthans aka Those Who Slither In the Dark hired with killing their once-ally the Goddess. He also stole her corpse to create the Sword of the Crestor and then killed the Nabateans (save for a few) to create the Relics and the Crests. The few surviving Nabateans, led by Seiros, pursued and killed him and his allies.

Seiros

The beautiful and powerful heroine who put down the maddened King Nemesis in the War of the Heroes and cleansed Fódlan from his influence. The Church of Seiros has her as their spiritual inspiration.

In reality, Seiros is the daughter of the Goddess herself and one of the few survivors of Nemesis and Co.'s slaughter of the Nabateans. Driven mad with grief and anger after all she lost, she led the counterattack against Nemesis (followed by her fellow living Nabateans) and killed him in battle with her own hands. Afterwards she renamed herself Rhea, founded the Church of Seiros, rewrote history as much as she could to hide what actually happened, and started to develop plans to revive her beloved mother the Goddess and recover the happiness that was stolen from her. . .

Her Rhea-only tropes have their own section above.

The Four Saints

Seiros' closest companions, who fought right by her side in the war against Nemesis and then founded several Heroic Lineages in Adrestia. Their names are: Indech, Macuil, Cethleann and Cichol.

In reality Cichol, Macuil and Indech are Seiros' fellow Nabateans, and Cichol's daughter Cethleann is half-human / half-Nabatean. After the war they passed their Crests onto some nobles and then faked their deaths to completely retire from public life. In the present Macuil is the Wind Caller/Lord of the Desert from the Sereng Desert, Indech has become the Inmovable/Lord of the Lake from Lake Teutates, Cichol is Seteth aka Seiros/Rhea's right hand in the Church of Seiros, and Cethleann is Flayn alias Seteth's "younger sister".

The Ten Elites

Ten mighty warriors who received the patronage of Seiros, fighting by her side in the War and later also founding their own Heroic Lineages (with Crests, Relics and all), which spread all over Faerghus and Leicester. Their names were: Blaiddyd, Riegan, Lamine, Goneril, Charon, Fraldarius, Gloucester, Dominic, Gautier and Daphnel.

In reality they were alies of Nemesis and not of Seiros' in the War of the Heroes, and apparently were bandits and criminals who helped him kill the Nabateans (However, Cindered Shadows implies that not every single one of them were involved in the Nabatean slaughter.) Still, to hide what truly happened plus her intentions, Seiros/Rhea portrayed them as her companions and not Nemesis'; she also had them executed for their part in the war, but spared their descendants and let them have their Crests and Relics.. Additionally, there was an eleventh Elite named Maurice, who lost himself to darkness and became the Beast. Another one, Ernest, is a complete mystery and is apparently an ancestor of this game's Anna.

The Four Apostles

Four holy persons whose existences are only revealed in the Cindered Shadows DLC. Unlike the Elites and Saints, the Apostles were all experts in magecraft rather than warfare. Their names were Aubin, Timotheos, Noa and Chevalier.

After the foundation of Garreg Mach, Seiros (now Rhea) summoned the four to give them a specific mission: to use the relic named Chalice of Beginnings plus their Crests' powers in a ritual to revive the Goddess. After their failure, the four sealed away the Chalice and willingly left Garreg Mach; Rhea then wrote them out of history to hide the Ritual itself. But MANY years later, their bloodlines reappeared - their descendants Yuri, Hapi, Constance and Balthus are the members of the Ashen Wolves.

The Flame Emperor and their followers

Flame Emperor

A mysterious enemy, who covers their face with a mask and their body with heavy armor. Dimitri believes that they're the mastermind behind the Tragedy of Duscur. She is actually Edelgard, under a disguise. The plot GREATLY speeds up when she's unmasked.

Death Knight

The Emperor's right hand, plus the local Black Knight. Incredibly powerful and VERY eager to shed blood. He is actually Jeritza von Hrymn / Emile von Bartels, Mercedes' half-brother. More specifically, Jeritza's Split Personality born from an horrifying incident in his past. He can be recruited under his true name, but only as a free DLC from the Black Eagles route.

Metodey

An assassin for the Empire.

NPC's

Anna

This world's version of the FE games' Series Mascot, the cute and cheery Mystery Seller. Has the Major Crest of Ernest. Can also be Promoted to Playable if the player purchases a certain DLC.

Lonato Gildas Gaspard

A nobleman from Faerghus, and Ashe's adoptive father who took him and his siblings in after they were orphaned

• Good Parents/Parents as People: Towards Ashe. He loved Ashe and his little siblings as much as he loved his own son Christophe, but when Christophe was executed by the church, he planned a rebellion in revenge and kept Ashe in the dark about said plans to protect him. He meant well, but Ashe was badly hurt by the fallout and blamed himself for not realizing what was going on all that time.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the Scarlet Blaze path of Three Hopes, an early mission is to rescue him from the Kingdom when he stages his rebellion. You can recruit Ashe in the same chapter, leading to some heartwarming dialogue.

Christophe Gaspard

Lonato's son and heir, an old friend of Catherine, and an older brother figure for Ashe and his siblings.

• Big Brother Mentor: To Ashe and his siblings
• Fatal Flaw: He's said to have been very easy to manipulate. And it got him executed, after he was tricked into joining a plot to kill Rhea and executed as a result.

Miklan Anschutz Gautier

Sylvain's cruel older half-brother, who was born without a Crest and disinherited both for it and for abusing Sylvain. He became a dangerous bandit afterwards.

• Adaptational Heroism: Of the Boxed Crook variety in Three Hopes's Azure Gleam path, due to Dimitri collaring and recruiting him to lead a unit of soldiers. He's at first on Dimitri's side just because he's forced to, but later seriously considers turning on a new leaf. Before being given a Heel Face Door Slam, in the form of Lord Gwendal.
• Big Brother Bully: Oh yeah.
• Foil: To Holst Sigiswald Goneril of Leicester. Both are the oldest child, both lack crests, and both have playable younger siblings who were born with their family's Crests. But while Holst is kind, noble, and dotes on his sister Hilda, Miklan mercilessly abused and tried to kill Sylvain out of jealousy until he was disowned.
  • Also in Three Hopes, Holst is Promoted to Playable and given an official appearance. Miklan already had an appearance as a boss, but while he's collared into fighting alongside the heroes, he's an NPC. Both are only available in the routes their siblings are locked to (Holst for Golden Wildfire, Miklan for Azure Gleam), but while Holst has Plot Armor, Miklan has a Plotline Death before the timeskip.
• Missing Mom: Three Hopes states that his birth mother, the former Lady Gautier, was a noblewoman from the Empire who was murdered in a Sreng raid. Even worse, she was pregnant when she was killed.
• The Unfavorite: Due to his lack of a Crest. This led him to bully Sylvain mercilessly, even trying to kill him at least twice. It's implied that this is what led to him being disowned, rather than solely his lack of a crest.

Emperor Ionius IX

Edelgard's father and the Emperor of Adrestia - though mostly in name, since the Insurrection of the Seven plus his old age and weak health have delivered huge blows to his power.

Lord Volkhard von Arundel

Edelgard's maternal uncle and the current regent of the Empire, after the infamous Insurrection of the Seven..

He is actually Thales, the leader of Those Who Slither.... But in reality, Thales killed the real Arundel and took his place.

Duke Ludwig von Aegir

Ferdinand's father and a nobleman from the Empire, power-hungry and corrupt.

• Pet the Dog: For all his greed and corruption, he truly does love his son.

Count Gregoire von Varley

Bernadetta's abusive father, Minister of Religious Affairs in the Empire, and the archbishop of the Southern Church in Three Hopes.

• Damsel Scrappy: Is this in-universe. He's not just a greedy, self-centered man, but a sniveling coward demanding the protection of those around him even though he can fight.
• Like Father, Like Daughter: Either becomes as anxious as his daughter in Three Hopes due to the constant assassination attempts or was always a Nervous Wreck and passed it on to Bernadetta.

Lord Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius

Felix's father, the leader of the very noble House Fraldarius and holder of a minor Crest of Fraldarius. Also an old friend of King Lambert and, despite his strained relationship with his son, a sort-of father figure for Dimitri.

• Magic Knight: As a Holy Knight, he can use swords and both Reason and White Magic.
• Parents as People: He and Felix have starkly different views on knighthood. Rodrigue is proud of his older son Glenn for dying like a true knight, but Felix was deeply traumatized by the death of his beloved older brother and took it VERY badly when Rodrigue said this. Because Rodrigue understands his son's feelings he doesn't try to fight him on them...but as a result, he also doesn't really talk to Felix about it, just letting him be; he explains this to Byleth, and adds that he feels horribly guilty about the whole mess. In Azure Moon, Yuri of the Ashen Wolves tells the player he did see the two having a talk just before the battle of Gronder, so he can be assumed they were finally getting somewhere...and then Rodrigue dies to protect Dimitri.
  • This can finally be addressed in his supports with Felix in Three Hopes, where they actually talk about what happened and apologize to each other. But only if the player recruits Byleth and Jeralt, as the support is time-locked for after chapter 12. If the player fails, Rodrigue is fatally injured by a Byleth who's VERY angry over Jeralt's death in battle and dies in his son's arms without him and Felix getting to resolve things..
• Parental Substitute: To Dimitri, to the point it's a running gag in the fandom that Rodrigue acts more like Dimitri's father than he does to his own biological son.
• Promoted to Playable: In the Azure Gleam path of Three Hopes.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the Azure Gleam and Golden Wildfire routes of Three Hopes...but his survival is conditional in the former, as it requires the player to successfully recruit Byleth and Jeralt. Otherwise, few after Jeralt is killed by the cast, Byleth will kill Rodrigue while possessed by Sothis. In the latter, he's able to survive when his friend Matthias Gautier dies to cover for his and Felix's escape.

Lord Matthias Raoul Gautier

Miklan and Sylvain's father, the leader of the also very noble Gautier House and holder of a Crest of Gautier. A powerful and very cynical Margrave whose mission if to keep the rebellious people of Sreng under control.

• Killed Off for Real: A mandatory kill in Golden Wildfire.
• Knight in Sour Armor: He used to be a more light-hearted man, but after his first wife/Miklan's mother was violently murdered in a Sreng raid while pregnant, he became incredibly cynical and ruthlessly pragmatic, plus rather neglectful towards his two sons. It really doesn't help that he once did try to be genuinely kind to a young Sreng man who was captured by his troops, and yet the guy escaped back to Sreng and used this adquired knowledge against Gautier
• Parental Neglect: He heavily neglected Miklan and Sylvain's emotional needs, and that bit them in the ass badly.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Both of his sons look like him, especially Miklan.
• The Unseen: In Three Houses. He finally shows up in Three Hopes.

Judith

The "Hero of Daphnel", a beautiful and sharp-tongued woman who is also a very fearsome fighter. She has the odd distinction of being the first Fire Emblem NPC who's also a Lord.

• Lady of War: The most badass Action Girl in the Alliance.
• Killed Off for Real: A mandatory kill on the Crimson Flower route. She'll also be killed by a Sothis-possessed Byleth on the Golden Wildfire path of Three Hopes if the player fails to recruit Byleth and Jeralt.

Nader

Known as "Nader the Undefeated", he is a jolly and experienced warrior from Almyra who is introduced as Claude's retainer under the name of Nardel.

Ladislava

A kind and beautiful commander of the Empire, who acts as one of Edelgard's personal guards

Acheron

The "Weathervane of the Alliance", a very fickle nobleman who'll support one or another faction as long as it's convenient to him.

• Smug Snake

Randolph

A nobleman from Adrestia, and Caspar's uncle-by-marriage; his and his sister Fleche's mother is the second wife of Count Bergliez. A very well-respected commander of the Empire.

• Sacrificial Lamb: In Three Houses he WILL die no matter what, though the circumstances in Azure Moon are more serious - to the point of switching him to a Sacrificial Lion.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the Scarlet Blaze path of Three Hopes, but only if the player recruits Byleth and Jeralt. Otherwise, he's killed by a Sothis-possessed Byleth to protect Fleche.

Fleche

Caspar's aunt-by-marriage and Randolph's younger sister, who keeps him company no matter where they go.

• Big Brother Worship: Deeply admires Randolph and became a knight just to be like him and stay close to him.
• Broken Bird: In Crimson Flower and Azure Moon due to the death of her brother. In the former route, she's saddened but handles it fairly well as Randolph dies honorably in battle. But in the latter, he's killed horribly before Dimitri can torture him, and poor Fleche goes off the deep end...
• Girlish Pigtails: With blue little ribbons
• Knife Nut: Her Weapon of Choice.

Cornelia Arnim

The Court Mage of the Kingdom of Faerghus, a very smart and powerful woman who's actually from Adrestia and got the position after finishing The Plague that hit the country hard.

After the Time Skip, it's revealed that she had the Faerghusian regent/Dimitri's uncle Duke Rufus murdered and framed Dimitri for it (under the excuse that Dimitri believed some rumors about Rufus being one of the masterminds of the Tragedy of Duscur and killed him in revenge). She then branded Dimitri as a traitor and almost got him executed, but Dedue rescued him (at the cost of his life, if his paralogue wasn't flawlessly completed), and helped the Adrestian Empire take over the Kingdom. Cindered Shadows also states that Cornelia, a friend of Queen Consort Patricia, manipulated her against King Lambert to secure her help in the Tragedy, plus she experimented on a girl who had mysterious powers related to a certain Crest she possessed - that girl is Hapi from the Ashen Wolves.. Still, it's implied that it was not the real Cornelia who did this, but a member of Those who Slither... who killed and then impersonated her. Three Hopes confirms it: her real name is Cleobulous, and in Azure Gleam she hints to Dimitri that she's not the Cornelia who cured the plague. .

Others

Sitri Eisner

Jeralt's late wife and Byleth's mother, a frail-bodied but very sweet and kind-hearted nun of the Church of Seiros. She fell victim to Death by Childbirth.

In reality, Sitri was an Artificial Human of sorts created as a prospect vessel for the Goddess, and the holder of the Crest of Flames before Byleth. Rhea did grow fond of Sitri like a daughter and let her live a normal life as a nun of the Church, leading her to meet Aelfric and Jeralt and later to fall for the latter. She barely survived Byleth's birth itself - but when she noticed her baby was pretty much a stillborn and that she didn't have much time left, she personally asked Rhea to save the child at all costs - the cost being transferring the Crest of Flames to Byleth, which soon killed her. The guilt-ridden Rhea couldn't bring herself to simply bury her adoptive daughter of sorts, so she had her entombed in Abyss... leading to Aelfric ultimately finding out and starting to plan how to revive her...

• Cute Bookworm: Since she couldn't leave Garreg Mach, she buried herself in books when she wasn't with her friends.
• Death by Childbirth: Doubles as a Heroic Sacrifice. She was severely weakened by the birth and wouldn't live long anyway, so she asked Rhea to remove the Crest stone from her heart and give it to her baby, so at least her child would have a chance at life.
• Flowers of Romance: One of the few images featuring her in the game have her happily squealing as Jeralt gives her flowers.
• Good Parents: She didn't get the chance to properly raise Byleth, but she already loved them very much while she was pregnant and really wanted to be a good mom to them. Crosses into Mama Bear - Sitri knew that giving the stillborn Byleth her Crest of Flames would doubtlessly kill her, but she still did it to save her baby. And she would've done it even if she wasn't already dying due to childbirth, as she already loved the child with all of her self.
• Happily Adopted: Sitri considered Rhea her mother figure. Which she is, in a way.
• Happily Married: She and Jeralt really loved one another.
• Hot Mom: She was very pretty, and would've been this 100% if she didn't die.
• Ill Girl: Sitri was very frail, physically wise. It had huge consequences, since she died giving birth to Byleth. And even if she didn't sacrifice herself for them, she would've died anyway since the birth itself severely weakened her.
• The Lost Lenore: For Jeralt. And Aelfric.
• Posthumous Character: She died before the plot was kickstarted. And becomes an Ascended Extra in Cindered Shadows, since Aelfric's goal is all centered on reviving her.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: She and Jeralt.
• Strong Family Resemblance: To her child. Especially if Byleth is a girl.

Lady Patricia

The mother of Edelgard. An Adrestian noblewoman and younger sister of Lord Volkhard von Arundel, she first was the mistress of Emperor Ionius and later the wife of King Lambert and Queen Consort of Faerghus, thus being Dimitri's stepmom. She was also good friends with the Court Mage Cornelia and with Hapi of the Ashen Wolves.

Her real name is Anselma, which she changed to Patricia when she came to Faerghus.

• Good Stepmother: Her stepson recalls her raising him well and lovingly after his birth mother died of The Plague. Subverted: Cornelia, in her dying breath, tells him that Patricia never cared for him, and instead only loved her missing daughter and helped out in the Tragedy of Duscur to see her again. But the supports with Hapi imply that Patricia did love Dimitri like a son, it's just that she was so desperate to be with Edelgard that chose the child that had been taken away from her over the one she was raising.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With a young girl who lived in Faerghus, Hapi.
• Poor Communication Kills: This was invoked on her and her husband Lambert by her old friend Cornelia, who eventually had Patricia convinced Lambert was the one keeping Edelgard from her on purpose. Because Patricia never was able to communicate enough with her husband to build a strong enough level of trust, she believed it and became desperate enough to conspire with Cornelia in the assassination of Lambert.
• Textile Work Is Feminine: Dimitri recalls her always sitting by a window with some needlepoint on her lap, sighing sadly.
• Unwitting Pawn: Cornelia's. She used Patricia's utter despair over Edelgard being taken away from her that she managed to convince her that Lambert was the one behind it (when it actually was Patricia's brother Lord Arundel) and therefore secure her help in the assassination of her second husband. Three Hopes's Azure Gleam path reveals she was killed by Those Who Slither when she outlived her usefulness.

Lambert Egitte Blaiddyd, King of Faerghus

The father of Dimitri, and the late King of Faerghus. The main victim of the infamous Tragedy of Duscur, where he and many other nobles were ambushed and cruelly murdered.

• The Good King - Reasonable Authority Figure: Lambert was a pretty good sovereign, which is why his death was so mourned by the Faerghusians. Right before his assassination, he was working on social reforms specifically destined to help out the people of Duscur.
• Off With His Head: How he died, according to Dimitri - who saw the entire thing happen right in front of him.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Dimitri looks terrifyingly like his dad.
• Youngest Child Wins: He actually was the second son, but his brother Duke Rufus was born crest-less while he had a minor Crest of Blayddid. That's why he was enthroned. And according to Three Hopes, that's why Rufus helped in the Tragedy of Duscur.

Duke Oswald von Riegan

The leader of the Leicester Alliance and Claude's maternal grandfather.

Godfrey von Riegan

The eldest son of Duke Oswald, and Claude's uncle. The original heir of the Alliance, who died in odd circumstances before the game started.

Lady Tiana von Riegan

The daughter of Duke Oswald, and Claude's mother.

• Almighty Mom: Claude recounts a time his mother was arguing with his combat instructor and laid the man flat with one punch.
• Lust Object: For Balthus, who repeatedly mentions to Claude that when he was younger he used to dream of marrying Tiana, much to Claude's displeasure.
• Spirited Young Lady: In her youth, she defied her family's expectations and eloped to be with the man she loved. The King of Almyra, resulting in Claude's birth.

Holst Sigiswald Goneril

The leader of House Goneril, the most badass general of the Alliance, and Hilda's overprotective older brother plus Balthus von Albrecht's best friend.

• Big Brother Instinct: He adores his baby sister Hilda and he's constantly fussing over her, much to Hilda's exasperation. Balthus even says Holst would kick his ass if he didn't watch out for her in his stead.
• Foil: To Miklan Anschutz Gautier of Faerghus. Both are the oldest child, both lack Crests, and both have playable younger siblings who have Crests. But while Miklan became a jealous bully towards Sylvain and eventually a bandit when his family disowned him, Holst is praised for his strength and valued despite his lack of a Crest and absolutely adores his little sister Hilda.
  • Holst also had no canon appearance until Hopes, when he became playable. Miklan had a canon appearance, but is only an NPC. Holst also survives, while Miklan will die in chapter 9 of Azure Gleam no matter what the player does. Finally, both also come in as Big Damn Heroes to help out during certain chapters.
• Promoted to Playable: On the Golden Wildfire route of Three Hopes.

The Gatekeeper

A very jovial and nice unnamed young man who, as the title says, works as the gatekeeper in Garreg Mach.